Re: Two new sites

>Liam Quinn wrote:
>ALT="" tells the browser that the image has no replacement.  Omitting the
>ALT attribute tells the browser that the author didn't think about ALT text
>(since so few do).  In such cases, some browsers will use "[INLINE]" or
>"[filename of image]" to tell the user "Hey, there's an image here--it
>could be important."  With ALT="", those browsers would display nothing in
>place of the image.

On pwWebspeak, an image, even with ALT="", is still announced. In general,
the consensus of this discussion seems to be that it is better to have the
image undescribed (by using ALT=""), than to state that it is a spacer image
(ALT="spacer"). I'd be delighted to go with that option if that's the
consensus. One option is to add a hidden (to visual users) link to a
pwWebspeak page (I have already done this) which explains that the images
are mostly spacers, vertical rules, etc. and leave it at that.

The same applies to the NOSCRIPT tags. The scripts on
http://vallartabooks.com are all there for dynamic HTML. pwWebspeak
announces "unsupported script" each time it encounters one. I find this very
irritating. I have a link to an external script, and an internal script in
the HEAD element of almost every page, so each page begins with "Unsupported
Script" "Unsupported Script". There should be some way to avoid this or skip
it.

I have redone one page as a test page. I replaced the ALT descriptions with
ALT="", removed the NOSCRIPT text that said the script was for appearance
purposes only, and added a hidden link (using a spacer image) that lets
non-visual browser users skip the links and get straight to the page text.
Maybe this link could be added to the HEAD element above the unsupported
scripts so that the user could skip directly to the page.

Anyone willing to check the revised page out is welcome to do so. This
process has already significantly added to my understanding of the subject
and I am very grateful to all who've participated. I will strive to make
this site as accessible as possible (though some compromise is inevitable).
The revised page is here: http://vallartabooks.com/enindex.html.

Charles Munat
coder@acnet.net

Received on Sunday, 25 October 1998 13:21:10 UTC