Alt atributes and how to use and write them (Full Version)

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caz -> Alt atributes and how to use and write them (12/19/2005 14:01:23)

More than half the battle

The importance of making absolutely all the images on your Website accessible cannot be underestimated. This simple action alone gets you more than halfway toward an accessible site. You have to do it correctly, but even if you skip every other accessibility step, your sites immediately become fundamentally accessible.

http://www.joeclark.org/book/sashay/serialization/Chapter06.html


One of the first things anyone learns about accessible web design is the importance of the alt attribute on images. If you are using XHTML, image tags without alt attributes won't even validate, so ensuring this information is provided becomes even more important. Writing alt text is easy, but writing it well enough for it to be a help rather than a hindrance can take some thought.

http://www.gawds.org/show.php?contentid=28

The alt and title attributes

When browser vendors bend the standards and implement something in a different way than what the specification states, they may cause problems, or at least confusion. One example of this is the way certain browsers, the most widely used being Internet Explorer for Windows, handle alt attributes (popularly and incorrectly referred to as “alt tags”).

Alternate text is not meant to be used as a tool tip, or more specifically, to provide additional information about an image.

http://www.456bereastreet.com/archive/200412/the_alt_and_title_attributes/


Slice and dice images:

The most effective way of improving the accessibility of a sliced image is to provide a descriptive alt text equivalent for the first image slice (that is the top left image) and then use a null alt (alt="") for all the other slices. In this way assistive technologies will ignore all the null alts and the users of these technologies will be told there is one image and get a description of that image.

http://www.usability.com.au/resources/image-text.cfm

There are probably more references to these attributes on the web, but I have found these to be the most informative and reliable.











d a v e -> RE: Alt atributes and how to use and write them (12/19/2005 14:28:12)

yep that's good stuff by joe - i came across that site a year or so ago and read the whole book online (at work, kind of related ;) good explanations and examples!



caz -> RE: Alt atributes and how to use and write them (12/19/2005 14:52:08)

It's well written too isn't it? I put him in the same league as Zeldman for his style. [:D]



womble -> RE: Alt atributes and how to use and write them (12/19/2005 14:57:04)

A good read, and some useful links there Caz [img]http://ecanus.net/forumsmiles/thumb.gif[/img]



Tailslide -> RE: Alt atributes and how to use and write them (12/19/2005 18:03:54)

This is a classic example of why validating a site isn't a be-all and end-all. Using a null alt attribute for an image that's just "for pretty" is the right thing to do accessibility-wise but technically wrong validation-wise (mind you the validator's been a bit moody lately and may well have changed it's mind on this!).

On this occasion I'd stick with the accessible, sensible solution and have alt="" rather than confuse text-readers and add pointless markup that does nothing except make the validator happy.



d a v e -> RE: Alt atributes and how to use and write them (12/20/2005 12:44:23)

in what way is it tehcnically wrong validation wise to use a null alt attribute?



dpf -> RE: Alt atributes and how to use and write them (12/20/2005 12:52:22)

quote:

When browser vendors bend the standards and implement something in a different way than what the specification states, they may cause problems, or at least confusion. One example of this is the way certain browsers, the most widely used being Internet Explorer for Windows, handle alt attributes (popularly and incorrectly referred to as “alt tags”).
see this is what i think is an example of "revisionist history". to say that browsers "bend the standards" is to say that the standard was in place when they implemented the functonality. I could be wrong but I thnk alt attribute preceded title and I know that its initial usage was for browsers that didnt even render images!!!! consider. as more and more browsers did render images, what was so wrong about displaying the alt as additional info? after the fact, a very simple thing that was perceived as adding additional information and enhancing the web experience gets twisted into "bned the rules of standards". nonsense



Tailslide -> RE: Alt atributes and how to use and write them (12/20/2005 12:52:29)

Ignore me I'm talking b*****s again.



caz -> RE: Alt atributes and how to use and write them (12/20/2005 15:05:41)

I don't think any specs state that it's forbidden to display alt text as a tooltip. They do state that alt text should be used as an alternative when the image cannot be displayed, so displaying both the image and the alt text makes no sense.

Anyway, the whole point is that browsers displaying alt text as tooltips has led many a web developer to learn yet another bad practice, inserting text that makes no sense when actually used as alt text, or using empty alt texts to suppress the tooltip in IE/Win.

I believe that the practice of tooltips/alt attribute was first introduced by Netscape during the browser wars and MS replied in kind. Even so, it doesn't make sense to continue with outdated practices when the world/technology has moved on - IMHO.[;)]



dpf -> RE: Alt atributes and how to use and write them (12/20/2005 15:09:10)

this may sound mean spirited but....whether it be a browser that doesnt display images or a sightless surfer, I just dont see what is gained by being told "there is a picture of the restaurant here but you cant see it" what is the gain?



caz -> RE: Alt atributes and how to use and write them (12/20/2005 15:24:52)

Well I would rephrase it to start with, something like "Francs restaurant: building exterior fronting Main Street ..." and not use "picture", "image" of said restaurant. Just make it useful when the image cannot be dispayed for whatever reason. But extra useful information rightly belongs in either the title or the (less widely supported) long description attributes.

PS. I know that you are not mean spirited, just confused. [;)]



womble -> RE: Alt atributes and how to use and write them (12/20/2005 15:26:12)

I think the point is that if say you're using a screen reader and you get told there's an image there, with alt text at least you're not guessing as to what the image might be and whether it's important or not, which of course then leads on to the whether you should use the longdesc as well...



dpf -> RE: Alt atributes and how to use and write them (12/20/2005 15:32:17)

quote:

whether it's important or not,
...so the more important it is, the more my viewing experienc eis second rate? Im either confused or contrarian today



caz -> RE: Alt atributes and how to use and write them (12/20/2005 15:35:52)

quote:

Im either confused or contrarian today


I give in...the information is there for others to use. [:D]



yogaboy -> RE: Alt atributes and how to use and write them (12/22/2005 17:57:23)

quote:

what is gained by being told "there is a picture of the restaurant here but you cant see it"


When you didn't know you were blind![:D]



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