Re: Study project: ALTifier or text-equiv -- Please choose!

Hi Michael,

If it is possible to create a text-only filter I prefer such a filter. But
I think it is NOT possible. You can create such a filter for simple page
constructions. But how you want to create such a filter for webpages with a
lot of clickable images without ALT tags, with a lot of image maps, with
nested frame constructions, with HTML generated by CGI scripts? 
If all pages include ALT tags, image maps were handled well, CGI scripts
generate pages including ALT tags I think a text-only filter can work
unless it will not work for 100%.
If there are ALT tags, if image maps are handled well, if CGI scripts
generate pages including ALT tags the webpages are accessible for most
visually impaired people. After that a text-only filter can make it more
accessible for people with other handicaps or visual impaired people only
using speech to access. 
But I'm afraid most companies do not like such a text-only version, without
commercial banners, loading fast. They want there visitors read the
commercials and click on them. I'm visually impaired myself and have always
turned image loading on, because if I turned them off I get a lot of
accessible problems. If I see a website has a text-only version the first
thing I do is going there and never go back to the graphical version. This
because of the faster loading of text-only pages. What do you think sighted
people will do?
A text-only filter can be helpfull. I also often have problem to read the
text on an image because of a bad contrast. In such situations I move my
mouse over the image and read the ALT tag but because I use a high
magnification 
the width of the description is larger than my monitor screen.

In my opinion both tools can be very helpfull. But I prefer solving the ALT
tag problem first.

Regards Peter Verhoeven
Internet : http://www.plex.nl/~pverhoe (The Screen Magnifiers Homepage)

 
At 01:10 21-10-98 +0200, Michael Vorburger wrote:
>Hello
>
>  my semester at university (EPFL) started again and I have to chose a large
>study project, 12h a week thing. I am interested to devote it to a WAI
>related project, and need your advice for chosing between two ideas, as
>Peter expressed that the real problem are missing ALT tags, not text-equiv.
>Would you give first priority to:
>
>- An ALTifier tool allowing to set ALT attributes? Key ideas: on a side-wide
>basis, defining ALT once for an image, having it applied automatically to
>each occurence on each page; indep of HTML authoring tool; quick run to set
>default automatic ALT, using some heuristics; correct some common MS
>FrontPage ALT mistakes, such as in automatically generated page banners and
>HRs; platforms: Win with GUI and UNIX as CLI listimg/setalt commands.
>
>or
>
>- A TextOnly text-equiv filter as suggested earlier and on the phone
>conference? Port to Java instead current C++ and working closely together
>with Daniel's Table linearizer, maybe even Bobby's HTML library, should be
>discussed. (Please note that I am NOT offended if you people tell me that a
>text-equiv filter is not really needed at all, because we don't want
>separate text-only pages. That's an opinion that was expressed in several
>private mails.)
>
> I need to decide and present the project idea to my professor very soon,
>ideally this week. Cannot wait until next phone conf Nov 4/5. Tx for
>discussion here ASAP. Tx for your help!
>
>Regards,
>Michael
>
>PS: Forburger is spelled with V, like in Vorburger; thank you all. ;-)
>
>----
>Michael Vorburger <mike@vorburger.ch> & <michael.vorburger@epfl.ch>
>KISS. Keep Things Simple, Stupid.
>http://www.vorburger.ch
>
>

Received on Wednesday, 21 October 1998 04:02:17 UTC