- From: David Poehlman <poehlman@clark.net>
- Date: Sun, 13 Jul 1997 11:46:55 -0400 (EDT)
- To: Al Gilman <asgilman@access.digex.net>
- cc: Gregg Vanderheiden <po@trace.wisc.edu>, WAI Working Group <w3c-wai-wg@w3.org>
Al, you reffer at the end of your post to the ability to have all links expressed by choice but this assumes the user is savvy enough to be aware of and to make the choice. I don't dis agree though. this takes us though to user training. On Thu, 10 Jul 1997, Al Gilman wrote: > [Gregg questioned my suggestion that null ALT strings be used.] > > I myself believe that authors should be encouraged to consider > null ALT strings as within their range of choice if they will > take the trouble to think about ALT strings at all. I have no > big problem with "IBM logo" suggestion. I would prefer that the > WAI not go out to beat people up telling them they must have a > non-null ALT string for every image. > > On the other hand, until you explicitly asked I had resolved to > let the matter rest for a myriad of excuses: > > - the logo is on the page not because the visitor wants to see > it but because the host wants it seen. > > - it's a very small difference in utility either way > > - My opinions were first formed in a universe of Lynx users, > where the useless image will obligingly get entirely out of > the way if a null ALT string is indicated. > There is less benefit from a null alt string and more pain > for users of GUI browsers. Maybe it's a wash? > > We did have a "I don't like having things hidden from me" > conversation on Lynx-dev. A page author said "I program my page > so it comes out totally differently in Graphics and in Lynx. > Trust me, the things I null out are not worth mentioning if you > don't see them." This won the day, on that particular day. > > All of these decisions are very "soft-fail" in Lynx because the > user has the choice to force all the images to be visible links, > if they want exhaustive coverage. Thus setting the normal mode > to 'trust the author if they have thought enough to actually put > ALT="" there' doesn't lock the user in immutably. > > For what it's worth... > > -- > Al > Hands-On-Technolog(eye)s touching the internet voice: 1-(301) 949-7599 poehlman@clark.net ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/poehlman http://www.clark.net/pub/poehlman
Received on Sunday, 13 July 1997 11:46:57 UTC