- From: Gregory J. Rosmaita <unagi69@concentric.net>
- Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1999 16:53:51 -0500
- To: Wendy A Chisholm <wendy@w3.org>
- Cc: Web Content Accessiblity Guidelines Mailing List <w3c-wai-gl@w3.org>
aloha, wendy! why is alt=" " (with a space between the quotes) to be discouraged, whilst alt="" (with no space between the quotes) is considered o.k. when used with the A element as a pseudo-OBJECT, as in: <A href="foo.html"><img alt="" src=...>prices</A> i also don't understand the contention that: quote authors shouldn't use " " since spaces are ignored by user agents. unquote is this because we fear that authors using a ATAG compliant tool or an ER tool will simply hit the space bar when the tool barks at them for not providing content for the (required) ALT attribute? it has been my experience that ALT="" (no space) is more often ignored than it is interpreted by UAs as a valid ALT argument... when using most commonly available versions of Lynx, for example, images whose ALT attribute was null showed up as [IMAGE] rather than as (yes, that was an audio/visual joke -- there's nothing on the line above) when the ALT value is a space, which is the behavior that i, as a speech user would prefer if the graphic is purely decorative and adds nothing to the content or structure of the document, so that i don't have to listen to a zillion placeholders, as in (apologies to speech users) [IMAGE] [IMAGE] [IMAGE] [IMAGE] [IMAGE] [IMAGE] [IMAGE] [IMAGE] [IMAGE] what was unclear (at least to me from the minutes referenced in your post) is whether we are discussing particular cases, or setting out a blanket statement -- thou shalt not use a space as the value for the ALT attribute? yes, allowing the use of a space as the value for the ALT attribute leaves open the potential for misuse of the ALT attribute for formatting purposes, and may allow someone to slip illegitimately ALT-texted images past a validator, but that is hardly a valid reason for condemning the practice... hell, hardly anyone uses NOFRAMES correctly, but i don't hear anyone asking that we discourage authors from using it because 9 times out of 10 it is used either as a commercial for a particular browser or as a means of insulting the end user and the tools at his or her disposal... gregory -------------------------------------------------------- He that lives on Hope, dies farting -- Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack, 1763 -------------------------------------------------------- Gregory J. Rosmaita <unagi69@concentric.net> WebMaster and Minister of Propaganda, VICUG NYC <http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/vicug/index.html> --------------------------------------------------------
Received on Wednesday, 10 November 1999 16:47:15 UTC