Re: alt tags no with a twist

In article <Pine.GSO.4.02.9808181433250.16333-100000@shell.clark.net>,
David Poehlman <poehlman@clark.net> writes
>Below is a snippet of conversation I'm having with a webmaster concerning
>alt tags.  Is there away around the following problem while still using
>alt tags or any thoughts?

IMO the only way to deal with this is to pressure the browser developers
to remove the ALT-as-Tooltips functionality from their offerings. Check
the www-html thread "Questionable implementation of IMG ALT attribute as
tooltips" from the beginning of this year, in which Foteos Macrides
astutely spotted that

====
   what you want is:
        
   <IMG SRC="foo.blah" ALT="alternative_string" TITLE="tooltip_string">

   and broader implementation and understanding of this
   provision in HTML 4.0.
====

For more info, check out the rant I wrote about this, at:

 <URL:http://www.the-net-effect.com/bad-tooltips.html>

>"There are some images on the site which do not contain alt tags.  These
>are usually called either bd.gif or td.gif.  These are simple spacers used
>for page layout and should not have alt tags.  If they did, the page would
>pop up with little blank squares as your mouse moved over it on browsers
>like IE 4 or Navigator 4."

I agree with Kynn Bartlett that one should not use "spacer" images (HTML
is not a page-layout language).

-- 
Colin Reynolds, The Net Effect (World Wide) Ltd
http://www.the-net-effect.com/
Tel: +44 (0)1246 450 901
Fax: +44 (0)1246 450 902

Received on Tuesday, 18 August 1998 16:31:34 UTC