Re: remembering ALTs that go with [SRC] URLs

HB: Comments by Harvey Bingham
At 20:32 1998/12/11 , Al Gilman, asgilman@access.digex.net wrote:
>I want to get back to one point that came up in the phone call and I don't
>know if it was a consensus or not.
>
>Both the A-prompt and ALTifier have been assuming that it is enough to
>remember one ALT to go with an image SRC URL.  And I said that this
>is a problem and Daniel explained a bit.

HB: I note that HTML and XML only allow one attribute of the same
name in any one tag. Thus if some graphic had distinct multiple
language descriptions built-in, it would be up to the application 
to provide just the pertinent one for the language containing the
reference to that document.

HB: We have not proposed multi-language ATT values on a single
graphic, that would require some delimited recognition and 
selection of the desired single language message before its 
presentation, say as a tool-tip. 
>
>Page-dependent "role" of the image apart, there are a variety of reasons
>why the tools must have a logical model that allows for different
>elements to use different ALTs with the same SRC value.

HB: Since a lang="natural-language-code" can be used on most HTML
elements, that could be the selector to cause only some to be
rendered.
>
>Reason 1: language variation and localisation
>
>Reason 2: The basic principle is that the author needs to be in charge.

HB: of content, not necessarily rendering.

>Any time we succeed in getting an author to think through what they
>put in the ALT attribute, we do not want the tools interfering with
>what the author(s) of different pages decide.  There are lots of
>reasonable choices.  Surveying the site or the whole, World-Wide
>Web for what someone else has used is appropriate to generate a 
>suggestion if the current author doesn't have a clue.  Not to override
>what the author wants to say.
>
>The practical upshot is that I believe you need a model of how ALT
>strings are remembered that is a little richer.  Just SRC and ALT
>values is not enough.  I actually suggest that you use an XML like
>format with start and stop tags and named fields for insurance.  Then
>it is easy to extend the schema without breaking old code.
>
><img-alt-use>
><img-src>[URI]</img-src>
><alt-text>[text]</alt-text>
><as-used-in>[URI]</as-used-in>
></img-alt-use>
>
HB: That approach will allow multiple <alt-text>[text]</alt-text>
Is each part of a pair with its following <as-used-in>...?

>Al

Regards/Harvey

Received on Thursday, 17 December 1998 09:14:18 UTC