- From: Kynn Bartlett <kynn-edapta@idyllmtn.com>
- Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2002 11:38:53 -0800
- To: "Jon Hanna" <jon@spinsol.com>, <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
At 5:19 PM +0000 1/17/02, Jon Hanna wrote: >If the image does convey *any* information (beyond the authors' taste >in background images) then it's content and it should be included in >the HTML as such, not used as a background. It's important to be careful what we mean about "any content", if we are talking about content then we need to focus on that CONTENT rather than a particular mode of presenting that content. Here's what I mean. My wife designed the City of Fullerton web site. Each part of the site corresponds to a specific department with City Hall. These departments each have a color scheme assigned to them. The backgrounds (of the navbar etc.) are color coded. You know that you are still within the same department if you see that color displayed; if the color changes, you're on a different part of the site. This is clearly conveying information via colors and backgrounds. There is obviously content conveyed there! Because we want to encourage effective use of the visual medium, this is something that we should applaud. It is good and proper, and an aid to understanding the site. Note that it does not violate any WCAG or 508 checkpoints, because the information is also available via other means -- for example, the section of the site is clearly shown in a "breadcrumbs"-style hierarchy locator. A background image could and should be used in the same way; for example, a watermark style background image on the left hand side of the page, under the navigation bar, may depict a Model A Ford on a Model A Ford web site. This is effective visual communication, and content is clearly being conveyed via the background image. However, it does not have to be included in the markup _if_ the purpose of the background (or color, or whatever) is to _reinforce_ the content which is already available in some other manner. As long as the information is in the markup, then using it as a background is perfectly fine and in fact encourageable. So I would rewrite your statement to say: If the image does convey *any* information, then that content should be included in the HTML in addition to being used as a background. The problem I had with your original statement was that it focused on the background image rather than on the content conveyed by it. --Kynn -- Kynn Bartlett <kynn@idyllmtn.com> http://kynn.com Chief Technologist, Idyll Mountain http://idyllmtn.com Web Accessibility Expert-for-hire http://kynn.com/resume January Web Accessibility eCourse http://kynn.com/+d201 Forthcoming: Teach Yourself CSS in 24 Hours
Received on Thursday, 17 January 2002 15:11:55 UTC