RE: spaces and alt-text. proposal for the ERT.

I think alt="" MIGHT need to be treated differently than alt=" " (or 
alt=" " [or alt="&#160"]) because alt="" makes images (and any link) 
disappear from text-only browsers.

On Tuesday, December 07, 1999 12:50 PM, Wendy A Chisholm 
[SMTP:wendy@w3.org] wrote:
> Phil and Charles,
> I have reworked my proposal. does this cover your suggestions and 
questions?
>
> <proposal>
> 1. Flag images with:
> * the IMG attribute alt="", alt=" ", and alt="&nbsp;" (or alt="&#160;")
> * OBJECT (of type="image/gif" or "image/png" etc.) that has no text 
content.
> (Note that OBJECTs of other types should be handled elsewhere in the ERT
> document.)
>
> 2. If the image is part of a link that has text (e.g., <a
> href="home.html"><img src="button.gif" alt=" ">Refer to our home 
page</a>)
> this is o.k.

2b.  What about when the image is part of link that does NOT have text 
(e.g, <a href="home.html"><img src="button.gif" alt=""></a> OR <a 
href="home.html"><img src="button.gif" alt=""></a>?  Is this kind of thing 
ALWAYS flagged -- which I think it should be.  If I missed consensus on 
this, I apologize.

> 3. If the image is not part of a link, query the author for the use of 
the
> image.
>
> 3a. If the author identifies the image as a space between words and those 

> words should not be separated, advise them to use &nbsp; (or 
alt="&#160;")
> instead of an image.
>
> 3b. If the image is a space that is used to format the layout of text,
> advise them to use style sheets, IMG alt=" ", or spaces in the content of 

> OBJECT.
>
> 3c. If the author indicates the image has a function, advise the author 
to
> provide a functional text equivalent and if necessary a longer 
description.
>
> 3d. If the image is purely decorative and has no meaning to the content 
of
> the page, advise them to provide either brief descriptive text, that they 

> handle it as a "space" (see 3b), and suggest that they may also want to
> provide a longer description of the image (on IMG with the "longdesc"
> attribute or as text in the content of OBJECT).
>
> Exceptions to this rule are image effects that could be created with 
style
> sheets, such as graphical list bullets. Advise authors to use style 
sheets.
> (See examples in the WCAG 1.0 Techniques document).
> </proposal>
>
> How does an author know when to do what for 3d?
>
> An example situation.  I have a page where My Company's logo is displayed 

> several times.  The first use is a link to our home page.  The text 
content
> is, "My Company's home page."  I'm very proud of how detailed we made the 

> logo, so I provide a longer description of it.  On the bottom of the page 

> we provide a row of the logos - the same image over and over again.  It's 
a
> branding presentation effect.  The first logo has the text equivalent "My 

> Company" the rest have a space. I do describe the effect for my friends 
who
> used to have sight because I think I can describe it well enough for them 

> to form a mental image.
>
> This is the "extremely friendly" version.
>
> the "basic" would be:
> I have a page where My Company's logo is displayed several times.  The
> first use is a link to our home page.  The text content is, "My Company's 

> home page."  On the bottom of the page we provide a row of the logos - 
the
> same image over and over again.  It's a branding presentation effect. 
 They
> all have a space for a text equivalent.
>
> I don't see a clear algorithm for how to walk an author through the
> decisions.  Ideas?
>
> --w

For this example, subsequent alt="" might be okay, but even better would be 
to repeat the alt or perhaps substitute alt="..." -- just so text browsers 
generate the same annoying effect!

-- Bruce Bailey

Received on Tuesday, 7 December 1999 19:04:24 UTC