Posted by dorayme on 06/04/07 09:19

In article <Xns9944C2465EA4Barbpenyahoocom@69.28.186.121>,
Adrienne Boswell <arbpen@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Gazing into my crystal ball I observed dorayme
> <doraymeRidThis@optusnet.com.au> writing in news:doraymeRidThis-
> 9656FC.02542803062007@news-vip.optusnet.com.au:
>
> > In article <Xns994362DA21634arbpenyahoocom@69.28.186.121>,
> > Adrienne Boswell <arbpen@yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> >> You leave the alt attribute blank if the image is for decoration. For
> >> example:
> >>
> >> <h1><img src="companylogo.png" alt="" height="100" width="200">Company
> >> Name</h1>
> >
> > You can also leave it out altogether. What are the bad
> > consequences beyond failing validation because of it?
> >
>
> If you leave out the alt attribute in Opera, for example, it creates an
> image placeholder that says Image, if you use alt="", it does not. You
> would be surprised how many slice and dice sites I've been to that have
> Image on them 20 times or more. This is especially true if you turn
> images off (and I sometimes do even though I have broadband).

Just for now, I cannot say too much about alt text. My doctor has
forbidden it and has given me special pills to cope. "AltText
medication" it says on the bottle label, take two if you begin to
think about alt text in HTML. It is a painful subject and I have
the theory that no matter what anyone says, no matter what their
status, they will be not quite right in at least some respects.
It is possibly the most vexing subject in any field ever to have
been aired.

I will just say 3 things:

1. For now, I am thinking that the alt attribute is sadly lacking
in implementation on browsers. One has to find workarounds (sure,
there are plenty, that is not a puzzle) if the text is long and
the space reserved for the pic none too wide. But one should not
have to - at the very least one should be able to style the alt
text to wrap. One can make it bigger and smaller and fancy fonted
and coloured and all sorts of things. But get it to wrap inside a
dimensioned space reserved for a pic that is not loaded (either
deliberately by the user or due to a mistake beyond the user's
control) and it seems impossible. It is impossible, yes? I think
it would be nice.

2. The whole subject of decoration is a difficult one. I tend to
no longer use such things and so perhaps I do not think about it
all so clearly (I use bg images now and then). But there are a
number of different ways to go. In my opinion, if someone is
going to use a mass of spacers and fiddly decorative things, yes,
you are likely to be right that alt="" is best for many users
with images turned off for the reasons that "blank text" looks
cleaner, it acts like 'whiteout', it is something non existent
but useful.

3. If the picture is decorative in a way, but nevertheless
_interesting_, not some trivial thing, not a spacer, alt text
_should_ be a way to provide for someone not seeing the picture
to get some sense of it. See the Australian film "Proof" for the
idea, it is about a blind photographer and he gets folk to
describe the pics he takes (and, if i recall, gets to pick up
nice ladies too (photographers are quite notorious you know...).
It is not at all a silly thing. Do screen readers read _long_ alt
texts? Again I know there are other ways to deliver text about a
picture. But our subject is alt text, not something else.

4. Finally, at

<http://tinyurl.com/34z6kf>

1, 5 and 7 behave one way; 2, 3, 6 and 8 another way and 4 yet
another under images turned off deliberately in Opera. While
under images on, 1, 2 and 6 behave one way; 3 another, 4 another,
7 another and 8 yet another. I am not that puzzled about these
differences. I am trying to come to terms with them.

While under Firefox, 1, 5 and 7 behave one way; 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8
behave another.

As for the links (9 to 16, am too tired now to describe). In iCab
it is all a bit different again.

Perhaps this table will be useful to someone or other who wants
to check how different browsers behave with alt text. Important
to distinguish between a deliberate turning off of images from
them merely failing to appear. I have "misnamed" some files to
mimic the latter.

Adrienne, must rush now and take 2 altText tablets immediately.

--
dorayme

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