RE: Tool Tip behavior

aloha, phil!

after repeating the observation made by my sighted colleague that the logos 
aren't self-explanatory, you suggested:

quote
It is also important to note that the visual image only has the text "MD 
TAP" on it, so I was confused with the alt="Jump to MD TAP".  I would have 
put the "jump to" in the title= if anywhere.  The user agent tells me it is 
a link, not the author.  I instruct others to only include in the 
alt="text" the text from the image and occasionally the word "logo".  This 
example is visually an image link of a red logo with the text MD TAP on it. 
I would recommend alt="MD TAP logo".
unquote

why?  the important piece of information to be conveyed here is the 
destination of the hyperlink, not the actual content of the graphic -- 
that's what LONGDESC is for...  what would i gain from a hyperlink whose 
hyperlink text is "MD TAP logo"?  that is extremely uninformative, from the 
point of view of anyone accessing this page using a non-visual user agent, 
regardless of their visual acuity...

i care not one whit whether the graphic contains the MD TAP logo, a picture 
of bruce, or a banana (and if i did, i'd want to avail myself of a 
LONGDESC)...  what i want to know is "where does this hyperlink lead and 
why should i follow it?" -- that is the _functionality_ for which the 
graphic has been assigned, and it is the functionality that i need access 
to, not a literal equivalent of the content of the graphic...

and, from the feedback i've gained so far from sighted visitors to the DORS 
page, they would like to know "what the heck does this graphic indicate, 
and why should i care?"

you also asked:
quote
Why does JFW 3.5 render the title="Maryland Technology Assistance Project" 
instead of the alt="text"?  Is this a user JFW setting, a feature of DOM or 
MSAA, or what?
unquote

as explained in detail (complete with screen snapshots, no less) in:
http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-ua/2000JanMar/0123.html

JFW offers the user the following option when it comes to speaking links:

1. speak TITLE or ALT (with TITLE taking precedence over ALT for 
graphically defined hyperlinks; this is the default setting)

2. speak text on screen

3. speak longest

for graphical hyperlinks, JFW offers the following additional "Graphical 
Link Verbosity" settings:

1. No Graphical Links  (i.e. ignore graphical links)

2. Tagged Graphical Links (i.e. speak Graphical links with ALT or TITLE)

3. All Graphical Links (default setting)

in the description of JFW's "List of Links" feature  and "HTML Options" 
property sheet referred to above, i pointed out the shortcomings of this 
approach, as well as the limitations of the settings...  one can change the 
verbosity setting on the fly (for the duration of the session) or 
permanently (via the HTML Options property sheet), but one cannot choose 
between "TITLE" or "ALT", nor can one set a cascade order for what JFW 
refers to as "Labels"...  neither can one set the verbosity separately for 
the "List of Links" and for review of the page using JFW's Virtual PC 
cursor, nor can one toggle the setting dynamically to control how links are 
listed in the the list of links dialog box...

as for why, that is a question best directed at Henter-Joyce 
(http://www.hj.com)

gregory
--------------------------------------------------------
He that lives on Hope, dies farting
      -- Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack, 1763
--------------------------------------------------------
Gregory J. Rosmaita <unagi69@concentric.net>
    WebMaster and Minister of Propaganda, VICUG NYC
         <http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/vicug/index.html>
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Received on Tuesday, 22 February 2000 20:05:52 UTC