Re: UK Government Web Guidelines

> yeah the problem is "WHO" decides what is important???

This seems to be leading to the alt with everything position.  I think
that is wrong.  Firstly, for mood and filler pictures, detailed
information belongs in longdesc, not in alt.

Also, I think that even putting it in longdesc for every image is
going over the top, and will just turn off authors from accessibility.

In any case, it is just not possible to describe non-trivial pictures
in an objective way.  In many cases the designer may just have
selected warm fuzzy feeling picture with a green tinge number 3, without
thinking about the contents, and the description from the picture library
may be available for republication.  Saying "warm fuzzy feeling" doesn't
quite have the subliminal effect of the original image... by a long way.

Even if the designer has thought more about the content of the picture
and chosen the scantily clad young women on the beach to go with the 
real estate site, hoping to attract young men, he might not bother to
describe the rare sea bird at all, or may call it a seagull, and he
might not bother to mention that one of the people in the picture is
your favourite niece who was killed in a motor accident the next day.

The designer is going to be selective in any description of a picture.

Received on Thursday, 31 January 2002 17:03:33 UTC