9678 2010-05-07 09:27:05 +0000 add rationale for providing an alt when inline description is available 2010-10-05 12:53:51 +0000 1 1 1 Unclassified HTML WG pre-LC1 alt techniques (editor: Steven Faulkner) unspecified PC Windows NT RESOLVED FIXED http://dev.w3.org/html5/alt-techniques/ a11y, a11y_text-alt P2 normal --- 1 faulkner.steve faulkner.steve faulkner.steve laura.lee.carlson mike public-html-admin public-html-wg-issue-tracking public-html-bugzilla oldest_to_newest 35502 0 faulkner.steve 2010-05-07 09:27:05 +0000 anne wrote: Admittedly I only skimmed through the document for a few minutes, so maybe I missed the answer, but it seems that in Example 2.3 it is not explained what the advantage of including an alternative text in the first place is. If there is a full description it seems one could just use alt="". http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-html/2010May/0116.html i replied: The description is an alternative interpretation of the flowchart. if alt="" was used the image would be removed from the accessibility tree for AT users, which is incorrect, the image is not meaningless, it contains information which a range of users could interpret with the aid of the short text alternative and longer description. The alt in this case provides an accessible name for the image that identifies the image for users AT users. It also provides a text alternative for users who have images turned off in their browsers, so they can if they wish load and view the image. If alt="" was used there would be no indication that an image was there. 37444 1 faulkner.steve 2010-08-16 12:08:35 +0000 EDITOR'S RESPONSE: This is an Editor's Response to your comment. If you are satisfied with this response, please change the state of this bug to CLOSED. If you have additional information and would like the editor to reconsider, please reopen this bug. If you would like to escalate the issue to the full HTML Working Group, please add the TrackerRequest keyword to this bug, and suggest title and text for the tracker issue; or you may create a tracker issue yourself, if you are able to do so. For more details, see this document: <http://dev.w3.org/html5/decision-policy/decision-policy.html>. Status: accepted Change Description: rationale added to spec Rationale: An image contains relevant information, an alternative interpretation of which is available in the same document as structured text. Using an empy alt attribute hides an image from some users, which is incorrect, the image is not meaningless, it contains information which a range of users could interpret with the aid of the short text alternative and longer description. It also provides a text alternative for users who have images turned off in their browsers, so they can if they wish load and view the image. If an empty alt attribibute is present there may be no indication that an image is present. Also if a description of an image is provided in a document, a programmatic association between the image and the descriptive text is required, using an empty alt attribute on the image effectively precludes the assigning of a programmatic association. 38405 2 cooper 2010-09-02 13:42:55 +0000 Bug triage sub-team notes the task force has an interest in this but does not need to prioritize its work on these. Steve and the reporters can follow the usual process on these.