Advice needed ALT text PA stateparks

The Pennsylvania State Park Web site has done a really good job on 
accessibility, I think, and their webmaster, Charlie Miller, want to find 
out if he can make any further improvements, especially in the ALT 
text.  Please post any comments to the list here.

I've included the web page addresses so you can look at the alt text in 
context.  People using screenreaders or speech browsers of course will 
simply hear or feel the alt text in context.  If you're looking at the page 
visually, you can pop up the alt text as usual with a the mouse, or see the 
alt text displayed next to each image using the WAVE 
(http://www.temple.edu/inst_disabilities/piat/wave/ )

For each image,
what do you think of the current alt text?  Is there a different wording 
you'd suggest?  Should some description be moved to another page, and 
pointed to by a longdesc and/or d-link?

Please keep in mind that this pictures aren't just decorations: they give 
the surfer information about the state parks.

The home page is

>www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/

I'll write the alt text here, though, like I say, it's always best to judge 
alt text in the context of the actual page

1. "Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources - State 
Parks"
2. "Trees rise mysteriously through mist at Jacobosburg E. E. Center."
3. ""Motorboat zooms along at Bald Eagle State Park."
4. "Family examines a natural treasure found by stream at Jacobsburg E. E. 
Center."
5. "A blue ball bounces in place, attracting your attention to the 
important link."
6. "Go to a page about 2000, the year of Pennsylvania state parks."
7. "CAST: Bobby Approved (v 3.2)"
8. "DCNR Navigation Bar"
     This last item is an image map.  The areas have alt text for each area:
     Search
     E-Mail DCNR
     DCNR home

Here's some of the alt text on the history page 
<http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/history/historyearlyyears.htm>

9. "This black-and-white photo shows Joseph T. Rothrock. His is wearing a 
black hat. Rothrock has a long white beard and seems to have an outdoors 
aura about him. "
10. "This black-and-white photo shows an inverted, cone-shaped pavilion. 
The base of the cone is wide and it peaks at a cupola."
11. "This black-and-white photo shows a dirt road crossing a small dam. In 
the background, people row small boats."
12. "This black-and-white photo show an early campsite. The spoke wheels on 
the trailer are the only obvious clue that this is not a modern photo."
13. "This dazzling black-and-white photo bears stark contrast between the 
forested hillsides in the background and the very flat ground in the 
foreground with lines of very small trees. In the center of the photo is a 
light-colored pyramid, the monument to James Buchanan's birthplace."
14. "In this black-and-white photo is a lovely waterfall surrounded by lush 
vegetation at George W. Childs State Forest Park"

(see the page for more alt text.)



     Here are some other pages he'd appreciate input on

><http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/history/historyearlyyears.htm>
>
><http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/education/ee.htm>
>
><http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/recreation/camping.htm>
>
>

--
Leonard R. Kasday, Ph.D.
Institute on Disabilities/UAP and Dept. of Electrical Engineering at Temple 
University
(215) 204-2247 (voice)                 (800) 750-7428 (TTY)
http://astro.temple.edu/~kasday         mailto:kasday@acm.org

Chair, W3C Web Accessibility Initiative Evaluation and Repair Tools Group
http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/IG/

The WAVE web page accessibility evaluation assistant: 
http://www.temple.edu/inst_disabilities/piat/wave/