Re: Request for clarification of the case where 'the image isn't discussed by the surrounding text, but it has some relevance'

Thanks for your interpretation Jgraham, sounds logical, too bad its
not definitive.



regards
stevef

2008/8/18 James Graham <jg307@cam.ac.uk>:
> Steven Faulkner wrote:
>>
>> The HTML5 spec currently states [1]:
>>
>> "In some cases, the image isn't discussed by the surrounding text, but
>> it has some relevance. Such images are decorative, but still form part
>> of the content. In these cases, the alt attribute must be present but
>> its value must be the empty string.
>
> My understanding (and I'm sure someone will tell me if I am wrong) is that
> the current conformance requirements are designed so that the transformation
> <img alt=$x> -> $x
>
> preserves the semantics of the page (except in the case where x begins with
> { and ends with }) i.e. the meaning should be invariant under a script like
>
> javascript:(function(){var%20img_nodes=document.getElementsByTagName('img');while%20(img_nodes.length)%20{var%20img%20=%20img_nodes[0];var%20replacement%20=%20document.createTextNode(img.alt);img.parentNode.replaceChild(replacement,%20img);}})()
>
> (that should, in theory work as a bookmarklet, but I may have got something
> wrong, it is only very very lightly tested).
>
>> So would the example below be non-conforming?
>
>>
>>
>> <h1>The Lady of Shalott</h1>
>> <p><img src="shalott.jpeg" alt="Painting of woman in a small boat on a
>> river in the countryside. A tapestry trails behind her in the water
>> and there is a lantern, candles and a crucifix on the prow of the
>> boat. She wears a white dress and has long loose hair."></p>
>> <p>On either side the river lie<br>
>> Long fields of barley and of rye,<br>
>> That clothe the wold and meet the sky;<br>
>> And through the field the road run by<br>
>> To many-tower'd Camelot;<br>
>> And up and down the people go,<br>
>> Gazing where the lilies blow<br>
>> Round an island there below,<br>
>> The island of Shalott.</p>"
>
> Given the design principle above, this is clearly non-conforming as it
> implies that the text
>
> "Painting of woman in a small boat on a river in the countryside. A tapestry
> rails behind her in the water and there is a lantern, candles and a crucifix
> on the prow of the boat. She wears a white dress and has long loose hair."
>
> is part of the poem. In this case it is likely that a user would figure out
> what is going on but in the case of a piece of prose or a play, alt text
> describing a decorative image could easily be confused with actual content
> of the surrounding piece.
>
> --
> "Eternity's a terrible thought. I mean, where's it all going to end?"
>  -- Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
>



-- 
with regards

Steve Faulkner
Technical Director - TPG Europe
Director - Web Accessibility Tools Consortium

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Received on Monday, 18 August 2008 13:34:15 UTC