RE: another alt question

Hello all:

     There are the beginnings of image descriptions in all fields.  Try using Google's advanced search page 
and type "image descriptions" (without the quotes) in the exact phrase area.
There's more than I expected.
Steve

>>> "Hy Cohen" <hy@miplet.com> 02/18/02 02:06PM >>> 
Hi, 

I know I would be greatly impressed if a so-called "for sighted users only" 
had descriptions of artwork, etc. I can come up with a couple of examples 
where someone who is blind would want to know what was being presented. 

First, let's say it is an art museum on the Internet, and I'm in school and 
need to do a report on a painting. Being as I cannot see the painting, I 
would need someone to describe it, so I could do a good report. I also may 
be interested in the styles and content of an artist for my personal use. 

Another example may be if I'm trying to find a graphics designer for a 
website I'm developing. A description of the design including style, would 
give me at least a starting point to know if I want to have someone sighted 
take a look at the art. 

Warmly, 
Hy & Guide Dog, "Layla" 
hy@miplet.com 




-----Original Message----- 
From: w3c-wai-ig-request@w3.org [ mailto:w3c-wai-ig-request@w3.org]On 
Behalf Of Leslie K. Yoder 
Sent: Monday, February 18, 2002 10:35 AM 
To: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org 
Subject: another alt question 


I've read with great interest the discussion regarding the purpose and 
content of alt text. So far, the emphasis has been on images that are 
"decorative" or supplemental in some way to the main content of a page. 

My question is this: what if the images _are_ the content--for example, a 
photo gallery or artist's online portfolio? My guess is that long desc 
would be the way to go, but I'm not sure. 

I'm currently working up a site for a friend who is a graphic artist (mostly 
in the area of signage), and I've looked at several artists' pages in the 
process. I've found, for the most part, that these pages don't concern 
themselves with accessibility for the blind, the reasoning apparently being 
that a blind user would have no interest in or use for graphic arts (a 
position that I, of course, find questionable). 

So I guess my question is really two-fold: Am I being excessive in insisting 
that even a site that's predominantly visual in its purpose be accessible? 
And what are your recommendations for alt and long desc content in this 
particular case? 

Thanks much 
Leslie 

Leslie K. Yoder 
lkyoder@pacbell.net