- From: Jo Miller <jo@bendingline.com>
- Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2001 15:31:30 -0400
- To: <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
At 14:52 -0500 8/15/01, Michelle Podd wrote:
>Hello,
>Can anyone tell me the purpose for using empty alt tags for unessential
>images like spacer gifs?
At 15:11 -0400 8/15/01, Fitzgerald, Jimmie wrote:
>But, is there a reason to use an empty alt tag of "" as opposed to simply
omitting the alt tag alltogether?
Michelle and Jimmie,
Empty ALT attributes allow screen readers and text-only browsers to
ignore the images rather than reading out (or showing) the images'
filenames. Here's an example of how part of a page with no ALT
attributes displays in Lynx:
----- Begin example.
[header_home.gif]
__________ [spacer.gif] [search.gif]-Submit
[spacer.gif]
[spacer.gif]
[spacer.gif] About Our Company [spacer.gif] Our Project
[spacer.gif] Funding Opportunities [spacer.gif] Education [spacer.gif]
Apply [spacer.gif] Newsroom [spacer.gif] Research
[spacer.gif]
[spacer.gif] [USEMAP:email_or_print.gif] [spacer.gif]
[spacer.gif]
[spacer.gif]
[spacer.gif]
[spacer.gif]
[spacer.gif]
----- End example.
With appropriate ALT attributes for the images that convey
information, and empty ALT attributes for spacer gifs, the page might
be rendered as follows:
----- Begin example.
Home
__________ Search Submit
About Our Company Our Project
Funding Opportunities Education Apply Newsroom Research
Email this page Print this page
---- End example.
Omitting ALT attributes altogether is not valid HTML, in any case.
--
Jo Miller
jo@bendingline.com
Received on Wednesday, 15 August 2001 15:32:26 UTC