RE: [Techs] Short text alternatives for object element

Roberto wrote:

...it's logical that if object is not shown, alternative mudt be
displayed.

John:
Actually, I think the text in the <object> body should be spoken by
screen readers even when images are turned on.  Otherwise it's not
*alternative* content-- it's inaccessible (to everone!) if the browser
can render the content specified in the data attribute.  

Screen readers report alt and title attributes for the <img> element
when Show pictures is turned ON, and that's what should happen.  And it
works even when the <img> is inside an anchor, and that's what should
happen. 

So there are two very different concepts of "alternative" content at
work.  In the case of the <object> element, "alternative content" is
shown when the *browser* has a "disability" (i.e., is missing a plug-in
or other device required to *render* some type of content. But for
accessibility purposes alternative content serves *people* who are
unable to *perceive* certaint types of content even when that content
is impeccably rendered.

Even if IE did what it's supposed to do with the <object>, we'd still
need to reassess whether it's appropriate to recommend putting text
alternatives in the body of the <object> element as an accessibility
solution.

John


----- Messaggio originale -----
   >Da: "John M Slatin"<john_slatin@austin.utexas.edu>
   >Inviato: 16/08/04 22.19.21
   >A: "w3c-wai-gl@w3.org"<w3c-wai-gl@w3.org>
   >Oggetto: [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_shortde
s
   >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/> 
   >
   >
   > 
   >
   > 
   >   >

[Messaggio troncato. Toccare Modifica->Segna per il download per
recuperare la restante parte.]

Received on Monday, 16 August 2004 20:54:08 UTC