RE: [EXTERNAL] RE: 1.1.1, Text Alternative, Title Attribute OK?

From my limited understanding based on my departments County Counsel's advice, any information that is available in the image regardless of format should be conveyed into the alt text. For example, if there is an infographic any of the pertinent information needs to be made Accessible.


Joseph Kwan
Senior Management Analyst
 
Department of Planning and Development
County of Santa Clara
70 W. Hedding Street | 7th Floor | East Wing
San Jose | CA  95110
Phone: (408) 299-5749
joseph.kwan@pln.sccgov.org

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-----Original Message-----
From: Adam Cooper <cooperad@bigpond.com> 
Sent: Tuesday, March 3, 2026 4:35 PM
To: kevin@access1in5.co.nz
Cc: 'Wai Interest Group' <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] RE: 1.1.1, Text Alternative, Title Attribute OK?

I am uncomfortable with the idea that we - the accessibility community - tacitly condone implementations such as these without being able to demonstrate their effect on the people who use them either positive or negative ... 

Do these images have a role? Do they use <picture> or <figure>? Do they use CSS background and a title attribute on a generic container?



-----Original Message-----
From: kevin@access1in5.co.nz <kevin@access1in5.co.nz>
Sent: Wednesday, March 4, 2026 8:31 AM
To: 'Patrick H. Lauke' <redux@splintered.co.uk>; w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
Subject: RE: 1.1.1, Text Alternative, Title Attribute OK?

I've also noted that there has been a greater use of images which are not <img> so alt text is not allowed for them. Title is an acceptable way to label such graphics.

K

-----Original Message-----
From: Patrick H. Lauke <redux@splintered.co.uk>
Sent: Tuesday, 24 February 2026 1:49 pm
To: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
Subject: Re: 1.1.1, Text Alternative, Title Attribute OK?

>  1. Accessible name may not be present on devices that don’t support
>     hover (e.g., mobile devices)

Accessible name is computed regardless of interaction. What you're really saying is "it won't be displayed on devices that don't support hover" which is a separate discussion, unrelated to 1.1.1.

>  2. The tooltip is only available to people using a pointing device

Compare this to alt text which is not available to people who don't use screen readers (or have images turned off in their browser). Again, not directly related to the 1.1.1 discussion.

>  3. Using a title attribute for an accessible name may fail automated
>     checking applications because they’re looking for conventional 
> methods

Evidence that automated checkers are naive in many cases.

>  4. the title attribute is not suitable for text alternatives more than
>     about ten words because it cannot be navigated using cursor keys

Just from testing with Chrome/NVDA, the title can be navigated the same way as an alt attribute.

--
Patrick H. Lauke

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Received on Wednesday, 4 March 2026 00:43:15 UTC