[Techs] Short text alternatives for object element

Item 10.5 in HTML Techniques for WCAG 2.0 [1] recommends putting short
text alternatives in the body of the <object> element. This technique
works for Firefox and Opera but not for Internet Explorer 6.
 
I don't claim elegance for the attached page, but it does pass the
validator.  a .jpg file is specified in the opening tag of the <object>
element, and a text alternative is provided in the body of the <object>
element as described in the ttechnique.
JAWS 5.0 does not read the text inside the body of the <object> element.
I thought this might be because I had images turned on in the browser,
so I turned them off (Tools|Options|Advanced|Multimedia|Show pictures -
OFF). Not only did this not solve the problem-- JAWS still didn't read
the text alternative-- but it revealed another one: IE continued to
display the image.
 
I asked Jim Allan to check this for me and he said that both Opera and
Firefox display the embedded text when images are turned off, but IE
doesn't.
 
At the very least, this should be identified as a User Agent issue; it
probably affects 10.6 and 10.7 as well, though I haven't checked to see
if they behave differently.
 
[1] 
http://www.w3.org/TR/2004/WD-WCAG20-HTML-TECHS-20040730/#object_shortdes
cription
 

"Good design is accessible design." 
John Slatin, Ph.D.
Director, Accessibility Institute
University of Texas at Austin
FAC 248C
1 University Station G9600
Austin, TX 78712
ph 512-495-4288, f 512-495-4524
email jslatin@mail.utexas.edu
web http://www.utexas.edu/research/accessibility/
<http://www.utexas.edu/research/accessibility/>