>>> "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