alt for icons

I have an attention deficit, so I often use lynx to avoid distractions.
Alt text appears in place of graphics, so it merges with other text if
not set off with punctuation. It is NOT accessible if it appears as

    1. Markup tools icon one Markup tools icon two Markup tools icon
       three Markup Editing Tools: Tools that assist authors to produce
       markup documents. These include text-based and WYSIWYG markup

Instead of alt="Markup tools icon one", could we please have
alt=" [Markup tools](icon one) " now, and just alt=" [Markup tools] "
when used as an actual icon in the future? (Yes, I'm willing to write
a techniques document on writing accessible alt text.)

As for the icons themselves, I think literal images of traditional
tools (icon 2 (pen on pad) for markup and content, icon 1 (camera)
 for multimedia creation, icon 3 (programmers terminal) for
programming) are more accessible (especially for readers with
cognitive deficits) than abstract metaphors (such as pen-on-film,
something never seen in reality but shown in icon 2 for multimedia;
or the abstract schematics in icon 1 for content and programming).

-- 
				Adam Reed
				areed2@calstatela.edu
				 
Context matters. Seldom does *anything* have only one cause.

Received on Tuesday, 1 May 2001 20:08:31 UTC