Re: URL for new Draft to Review

On Fri, 10 Apr 1998, Gregg Vanderheiden wrote:

> http://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/WD-WAI-PAGEAUTH-0410.html
> 
> Try it.  You'll like it.

I'm afraid we still have this problem in the imagemaps section
(section 3 in this document):

  'authors should indicate with the "alt" attribute of the MAP element'

The MAP element doesn't have an ALT attribute.  The only elements
relevant to this context that can have an ALT attribute are the IMG
and the AREAs.

Also, there seems to be an internal contradiction.  The use of client
side maps _instead_of_ server side maps is "Required", (which
literally means that the presence of a server-side map, even in
conjunction with an equivalent client-side map, would be forbidden,
could that really have been the intention?), but the note then
discusses what to do when only server-side maps are used - which the
"requirement"  has literally already ruled out? 

I don't really understand what the drafters meant by "when a
server-side map must be used", but I'm assuming they have some
concrete situation in mind.  Are they for example thinking of a
contest or puzzle, with the answers hidden in the server, and the use
of a client-side map could give the answers away? 

Might I suggest that the requirement itself would be better stated as
"Provide client-side maps and/or provide alternative means of
accessible navigation".  That avoids any internal contradiction with
the rest of what is said, and seems to me to express the functional
requirements without unnecessarily enforcing one specific solution 
for all possible imagemap contexts. 


"Invisible images used as spacers"

I think the recommendation ought to read something like this

 ... 'Provide "null" (ALT="") or "white space" (ALT=" ")  alt-text,
whichever the context needs.'

best regards

Received on Saturday, 11 April 1998 10:28:16 UTC