RE: 1.1.1, Text Alternative, Title Attribute OK?

I'm thinking more about svg which I'm seeing more often. Obviously it could be given a role="img" but still can't have alt text - it gets a text equivalent using other means (title or aria). So 1.1.1 doesn't mandate alt text - it mandates equivalent text.
The aria spec certainly strongly suggest adding the role and a label or labelledby but there are other valid options.

-----Original Message-----
From: Patrick H. Lauke <redux@splintered.co.uk> 
Sent: Wednesday, 4 March 2026 12:45 pm
To: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
Subject: Re: 1.1.1, Text Alternative, Title Attribute OK?

On 03/03/2026 21:31, kevin@access1in5.co.nz wrote:
> 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.

Depending on the exact code you're talking about ... that's not quite accurate I think. If it's just an arbitrary <span> or similar, just sticking a title attribute on it won't expose that as an accessible name for the <span>, unless I'm misremembering. Ditto for adding something like aria-label to an arbitrary element that is not normally labellable.

P
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Patrick H. Lauke

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Received on Wednesday, 4 March 2026 05:07:34 UTC