Absent or null alt on img within figure element

Greetings,
Is it  okay to omit the alt on an img element inside a figure element and rely on the figcaption to provide the text alternative? 

As a screen reader user, I am not in favor of doing away with the alt or even setting a null alt on the img because I do not realize that there is an actual image present; nor can I use image-navigation to quickly move to the image. Nor can I copy / save the image locally if I wished to.
The examples within HTML5 specs do use an a non-empty alt for images within a figure which is perfectly fine by me.
I am in favor of flagging a violation if alt is absent or is null on an img within a figure.
Thoughts?
Thanks very much,
Sailesh Panchang

Received on Tuesday, 21 July 2015 20:34:19 UTC