Re: alt tags for graphs

Mattingly, F Darrell wrote:
> 
> I’m working on a project to teach mathematical concepts.  What is the 
> best manner to describe graphs, such as the one below

Mathematics is about being precise.  There is no such thing as an alt 
tag in HTML.  I think you mean an alt attribute.

I don't think it is possible to answer the question without knowing the 
educational point that is being made in the particular case, however, I 
suspect what you really needed was longdesc, except that it was never 
usefully supported by mainstream browsers and may well have been removed.

Without longdesc, I think, as a minimum, you will need to include a link 
to a textual description in the main text.

alt, in this case, can really only convey enough for someone already 
familiar with the concepts to know what the intention of the diagram is. 
  I don't think it can cover enough for someone who is expected to learn 
those concepts.
-- 
David Woolley
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Received on Thursday, 28 March 2013 23:01:30 UTC