- From: Jan Richards <jan.richards@utoronto.ca>
- Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2007 12:11:29 -0400
- To: Robert Burns <rob@robburns.com>
- CC: Maciej Stachowiak <mjs@apple.com>, Jason White <jason@jasonjgw.net>, HTMLWG <public-html@w3.org>, wai-xtech@w3.org
I think there may be some misunderstanding about the nature of alt-text prompting that is being advocated. The modal prompt as part of image insertion is really not a good implementation. Authors feel pressure to add seemingly redundant information on a schedule they don't agree with. Improved workflows would: - motivate the user by explaining that in addition to people who can't see the images, the alt text can be used by search engines and/or will be used to make the user's personal image collection more searchable. - prompt the user more gently, allowing them to address the situation when they are ready: http://www.w3.org/WAI/AU/2007/WD-ATAG20techs-20070416/tech2.html#check-prompt-assist-user - support the user in adding the alt text by providing the image to be described and advice about how to describe it: http://www.w3.org/WAI/AU/2007/WD-ATAG20techs-20070416/tech2.html#prompting-types - give the user a bigger payback for their valuable time spent writing descriptions (e.g. by suggesting* the same alt if the same image is reused, by using the alt to search the image archive, etc.): http://www.w3.org/WAI/AU/2007/WD-ATAG20techs-20070416/tech2.html#check-have-alt-registry *"Suggest" rather than automatically use since the language and/or context of use may be different. Cheers, Jan Richards (Acting WAI-AUWG Staff Contact) -- Jan Richards, M.Sc. User Interface Design Specialist Adaptive Technology Resource Centre (ATRC) Faculty of Information Studies University of Toronto >> Please keep in mind these kinds of scenarios where the "authoring >> tool" is simply an end-user application that happens to generate HTML. >> Such applications aim not professional authors but end users who are >> not experts on markup or accessibility. Note that popping up a modal >> dialog to ask for alt text could actually hurt accessibility for >> creating and sharing content. > > How could that hurt accessibility? If the application is not aimed at > professionals, then shouldn't it provide more assistance to users to > help them catalog and manipulate their images?
Received on Thursday, 16 August 2007 16:11:07 UTC