- From: Liam Quinn <liam@htmlhelp.com>
- Date: Thu, 05 Feb 1998 22:15:27 -0500
- To: HTML Guidelines Working Group <w3c-wai-gl@w3.org>
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 At 05:39 PM 05/02/98 -0800, Charles (Chuck) Oppermann wrote: >I strongly disagree with this interpretation of ALT. And as you know, I strongly disagree with your interpretation :) >Every book I have on >HTML specifies that ALT is a description of the image. A lot of HTML books have mistakes in them. The fact that the W3C Recommendations have never been clear on ALT increases the likelihood of misinterpretation. >Are we going to say "Use TITLE as functional >information EXCEPT when there is a image and then use it as a description of >the image?" No. What I'm saying is use TITLE as descriptive information in all cases. When you use TITLE with A elements, you're describing the link, not providing the function of the link (since the function--more information-- is implicit in the link itself). Using TITLE to describe an IMG makes it consistent with other uses of TITLE. >So for a textual link it would go like this: > ><HTML> ><A HREF=homepage.htm TITLE="enter my home page"> >Click here ></A> ></HTML> > >but for a image link it would be: > ><HTML> ><A HREF=homepage.htm TITLE="enter my home page"> ><IMG SRC="globle.gif" TITLE="picture of the world" ALT="enter my home page"> ></A> ></HTML> > >That's making exceptions in the meaning of TITLE. I don't see the exception. In your example the TITLE of the IMG describes the graphic and the TITLE of the A describes the link. It seems perfectly consistent and natural. >In my view it should be: > ><HTML> ><A HREF=homepage.htm TITLE="enter my home page"> ><IMG SRC="globle.gif" ALT="picture of the world"> ></A> ></HTML> Why does a text-only user *need* (ALT being required) to know that there is a picture of the world? How does that help, when the point of the image is as an entrance to another page? If I saw or heard "picture of the world", what would I expect to find upon following the link? Probably a JPEG or GIF of the world. The ALT attribute is required on IMG because the function of the image is vital to text-only users. What the image looks like may be of interest to some text-only users, so we have the TITLE and LONGDESC attributes, which are optional. If TITLE were to give the all-important function of the image, it should be required in HTML 4.0. >I look at the above examples and think it's clear why there is a separation >between ALT and TITLE. For starters, in this case, the image *object* has >no functional meaning. The function of an image is context-sensitive, so the fact that the image's pixels are not functional on their own does not mean that the IMG element--as used in the document--has no function. >It's the anchor surrounding it which gives it >functional meaning and as such the TITLE indicates that. So you're using TITLE on A to describe the function of the IMG? That seems counter-intuitive. TITLE on A should describe the link, and should be independent of the image or text that anchors the link. >The whole reason TITLE was invented was to supplement existing attributes, >not to replace them. TITLE is not replacing ALT. ALT always was, to me (and I assumed others), used to give the function of the image, since this is what is useful to the person not loading images. TITLE provides the long-desired ability to describe the image, especially useful for those using graphical browsers with image loading disabled. >Changing the meaning of ALT now is likely to kill the gains we've made in >getting it accepted. The meaning of ALT as I've always understood, and as documented for years at <http://ppewww.ph.gla.ac.uk/%7Eflavell/alt/alt-text.html>, is to provide a replacement for browsers not loading images. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGP for Personal Privacy 5.0 Charset: noconv iQA/AwUBNNqATfP8EtNrypTwEQL6mwCdHBS9weguBpWRlcBKbvwn3Xv7Fc8AoMe4 7gI1IpvPtmAKVvjbbaSZuxBL =5FV4 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- Liam Quinn Web Design Group Enhanced Designs, Web Site Development http://www.htmlhelp.com/ http://enhanced-designs.com/
Received on Thursday, 5 February 1998 22:14:09 UTC