img
element
img
elementISSUE-30 (longdesc) impacts this section. Priority feedback is requested on this issue from Last Call reviewers. In particular, reviewers are invited to review and comment on any change proposals that are related to this issue. See the current list of open Last Call issues and change proposals maintained by the HTML Working Group chairs.
usemap
attribute: Interactive content.alt
src
usemap
ismap
width
height
[NamedConstructor=Image(), NamedConstructor=Image(in unsigned long width), NamedConstructor=Image(in unsigned long width, in unsigned long height)] interface HTMLImageElement : HTMLElement { attribute DOMString alt; attribute DOMString src; attribute DOMString useMap; attribute boolean isMap; attribute unsigned long width; attribute unsigned long height; readonly attribute unsigned long naturalWidth; readonly attribute unsigned long naturalHeight; readonly attribute boolean complete; };
An img
element represents an image.
The image given by the src
attribute is the embedded content; the value of the alt
attribute provides equivalent content for those who cannot process images or who have image loading disabled.
The src
attribute must be present, and must contain a valid non-empty URL potentially surrounded by spaces referencing a non-interactive, optionally animated, image resource that is neither paged nor scripted.
Images can thus be static bitmaps (e.g. PNGs, GIFs, JPEGs), single-page vector documents (single-page PDFs, XML files with an SVG root element), animated bitmaps (APNGs, animated GIFs), animated vector graphics (XML files with an SVG root element that use declarative SMIL animation), and so forth. However, this also precludes SVG files with script, multipage PDF files, interactive MNG files, HTML documents, plain text documents, and so forth.
The requirements on the alt
attribute's value are described in the next section.
The img
element must not be used as a layout tool. In particular, img
elements should not be used to display transparent images, as they rarely convey meaning and rarely add anything useful to the document.
The usemap
attribute, if present, can indicate that the image has an associated image map.
The ismap
attribute, when used on an element that is a descendant of an a
element with an href
attribute, indicates by its presence that the element provides access to a server-side image map. This affects how events are handled on the corresponding a
element.
The ismap
attribute is a boolean attribute. The attribute must not be specified on an element that does not have an ancestor a
element with an href
attribute.
The img
element supports dimension attributes.
The IDL attributes alt
, src
, useMap
, and isMap
each must reflect the respective content attributes of the same name.
width
[ = value ]height
[ = value ]These attributes return the actual rendered dimensions of the image, or zero if the dimensions are not known.
They can be set, to change the corresponding content attributes.
naturalWidth
naturalHeight
These attributes return the intrinsic dimensions of the image, or zero if the dimensions are not known.
complete
Returns true if the image has been completely downloaded or if no image is specified; otherwise, returns false.
Image
( [ width [, height ] ] )Returns a new img
element, with the width
and height
attributes set to the values passed in the relevant arguments, if applicable.
On setting, they must act as if they reflected the respective content attributes of the same name.
Three constructors are provided for creating HTMLImageElement
objects (in addition to the factory methods from DOM Core such as createElement()
): Image()
, Image(width)
, and Image(width, height)
. When invoked as constructors, these must return a new HTMLImageElement
object (a new img
element). If the width argument is present, the new object's width
content attribute must be set to width. If the height argument is also present, the new object's height
content attribute must be set to height. The element's document must be the active document of the browsing context of the Window
object on which the interface object of the invoked constructor is found.
A single image can have different appropriate alternative text depending on the context.
In each of the following cases, the same image is used, yet the alt
text is different each time. The image is the coat of arms of the Carouge municipality in the canton Geneva in Switzerland.
Here it is used as a supplementary icon:
<p>I lived in <img src="carouge.svg" alt=""> Carouge.</p>
Here it is used as an icon representing the town:
<p>Home town: <img src="carouge.svg" alt="Carouge"></p>
Here it is used as part of a text on the town:
<p>Carouge has a coat of arms.</p> <p><img src="carouge.svg" alt="The coat of arms depicts a lion, sitting in front of a tree."></p> <p>It is used as decoration all over the town.</p>
Here it is used as a way to support a similar text where the description is given as well as, instead of as an alternative to, the image:
<p>Carouge has a coat of arms.</p> <p><img src="carouge.svg" alt=""></p> <p>The coat of arms depicts a lion, sitting in front of a tree. It is used as decoration all over the town.</p>
Here it is used as part of a story:
<p>He picked up the folder and a piece of paper fell out.</p> <p><img src="carouge.svg" alt="Shaped like a shield, the paper had a red background, a green tree, and a yellow lion with its tongue hanging out and whose tail was shaped like an S."></p> <p>He stared at the folder. S! The answer he had been looking for all this time was simply the letter S! How had he not seen that before? It all came together now. The phone call where Hector had referred to a lion's tail, the time Marco had stuck his tongue out...</p>
Here it is not known at the time of publication what the image will be, only that it will be a coat of arms of some kind, and thus no replacement text can be provided, and instead only a brief caption for the image is provided, in the title
attribute:
<p>The last user to have uploaded a coat of arms uploaded this one:</p> <p><img src="last-uploaded-coat-of-arms.cgi" title="User-uploaded coat of arms."></p>
Ideally, the author would find a way to provide real replacement text even in this case, e.g. by asking the previous user. Not providing replacement text makes the document more difficult to use for people who are unable to view images, e.g. blind users, or users or very low-bandwidth connections or who pay by the byte, or users who are forced to use a text-only Web browser.
Here are some more examples showing the same picture used in different contexts, with different appropriate alternate texts each time.
<article> <h1>My cats</h1> <h2>Fluffy</h2> <p>Fluffy is my favorite.</p> <img src="fluffy.jpg" alt="She likes playing with a ball of yarn."> <p>She's just too cute.</p> <h2>Miles</h2> <p>My other cat, Miles just eats and sleeps.</p> </article>
<article> <h1>Photography</h1> <h2>Shooting moving targets indoors</h2> <p>The trick here is to know how to anticipate; to know at what speed and what distance the subject will pass by.</p> <img src="fluffy.jpg" alt="A cat flying by, chasing a ball of yarn, can be photographed quite nicely using this technique."> <h2>Nature by night</h2> <p>To achieve this, you'll need either an extremely sensitive film, or immense flash lights.</p> </article>
<article> <h1>About me</h1> <h2>My pets</h2> <p>I've got a cat named Fluffy and a dog named Miles.</p> <img src="fluffy.jpg" alt="Fluffy, my cat, tends to keep itself busy."> <p>My dog Miles and I like go on long walks together.</p> <h2>music</h2> <p>After our walks, having emptied my mind, I like listening to Bach.</p> </article>
<article> <h1>Fluffy and the Yarn</h1> <p>Fluffy was a cat who liked to play with yarn. He also liked to jump.</p> <aside><img src="fluffy.jpg" alt="" title="Fluffy"></aside> <p>He would play in the morning, he would play in the evening.</p> </article>
Except where otherwise specified, the alt
attribute must be specified and its value must not be empty; the value must be an appropriate replacement for the image. The specific requirements for the alt
attribute depend on what the image is intended to represent, as described in the following sections.
The most general rule to consider when writing alternative text is the following: the intent is that replacing every image with the text of its alt
attribute not change the meaning of the page.
So, in general, alternative text can be written by considering what one would have written had one not been able to include the image.
A corollary to this is that the alt
attribute's value should never contain text that could be considered the image's caption, title, or legend. It is supposed to contain replacement text that could be used by users instead of the image; it is not meant to supplement the image. The title
attribute can be used for supplemental information.
One way to think of alternative text is to think about how you would read the page containing the image to someone over the phone, without mentioning that there is an image present. Whatever you say instead of the image is typically a good start for writing the alternative text.
When an a element that creates a hyperlink, or a button
element, has no textual content but contains one or more images, the alt
attributes must contain text that together convey the purpose of the link or button.
In this example, a user is asked to pick his preferred color from a list of three. Each color is given by an image, but for users who have configured their user agent not to display images, the color names are used instead:
<h1>Pick your color</h1> <ul> <li><a href="green.html"><img src="green.jpeg" alt="Green"></a></li> <li><a href="blue.html"><img src="blue.jpeg" alt="Blue"></a></li> <li><a href="red.html"><img src="red.jpeg" alt="Red"></a></li> </ul>
In this example, each button has a set of images to indicate the kind of color output desired by the user. The first image is used in each case to give the alternative text.
<button name="rgb"><img src="red" alt="RGB"><img src="green" alt=""><img src="blue" alt=""></button> <button name="cmyk"><img src="cyan" alt="CMYK"><img src="magenta" alt=""><img src="yellow" alt=""><img src="black" alt=""></button>
Since each image represents one part of the text, it could also be written like this:
<button name="rgb"><img src="red" alt="R"><img src="green" alt="G"><img src="blue" alt="B"></button> <button name="cmyk"><img src="cyan" alt="C"><img src="magenta" alt="M"><img src="yellow" alt="Y"><img src="black" alt="K"></button>
However, with other alternative text, this might not work, and putting all the alternative text into one image in each case might make more sense:
<button name="rgb"><img src="red" alt="sRGB profile"><img src="green" alt=""><img src="blue" alt=""></button> <button name="cmyk"><img src="cyan" alt="CMYK profile"><img src="magenta" alt=""><img src="yellow" alt=""><img src="black" alt=""></button>
Sometimes something can be more clearly stated in graphical form, for example as a flowchart, a diagram, a graph, or a simple map showing directions. In such cases, an image can be given using the img
element, but the lesser textual version must still be given, so that users who are unable to view the image (e.g. because they have a very slow connection, or because they are using a text-only browser, or because they are listening to the page being read out by a hands-free automobile voice Web browser, or simply because they are blind) are still able to understand the message being conveyed.
The text must be given in the alt
attribute, and must convey the same message as the image specified in the src
attribute.
It is important to realize that the alternative text is a replacement for the image, not a description of the image.
In the following example we have a flowchart in image form, with text in the alt
attribute rephrasing the flowchart in prose form:
<p>In the common case, the data handled by the tokenization stage comes from the network, but it can also come from script.</p> <p><img src="parsing-model-overview.png" alt="The network passes data to the Tokenizer stage, which passes data to the Tree Construction stage. From there, data goes to both the DOM and to Script Execution. Script Execution is linked to the DOM, and, using document.write(), passes data to the Tokenizer."></p>
Here's another example, showing a good solution and a bad solution to the problem of including an image in a description.
First, here's the good solution. This sample shows how the alternative text should just be what you would have put in the prose if the image had never existed.
<!-- This is the correct way to do things. --> <p> You are standing in an open field west of a house. <img src="house.jpeg" alt="The house is white, with a boarded front door."> There is a small mailbox here. </p>
Second, here's the bad solution. In this incorrect way of doing things, the alternative text is simply a description of the image, instead of a textual replacement for the image. It's bad because when the image isn't shown, the text doesn't flow as well as in the first example.
<!-- This is the wrong way to do things. --> <p> You are standing in an open field west of a house. <img src="house.jpeg" alt="A white house, with a boarded front door."> There is a small mailbox here. </p>
Text such as "Photo of white house with boarded door" would be equally bad alternative text (though it could be suitable for the title
attribute or in the figcaption
element of a figure
with this image).
A document can contain information in iconic form. The icon is intended to help users of visual browsers to recognize features at a glance.
In some cases, the icon is supplemental to a text label conveying the same meaning. In those cases, the alt
attribute must be present but must be empty.
Here the icons are next to text that conveys the same meaning, so they have an empty alt
attribute:
<nav> <p><a href="/help/"><img src="/icons/help.png" alt=""> Help</a></p> <p><a href="/configure/"><img src="/icons/configuration.png" alt=""> Configuration Tools</a></p> </nav>
In other cases, the icon has no text next to it describing what it means; the icon is supposed to be self-explanatory. In those cases, an equivalent textual label must be given in the alt
attribute.
Here, posts on a news site are labeled with an icon indicating their topic.
<body> <article> <header> <h1>Ratatouille wins <i>Best Movie of the Year</i> award</h1> <p><img src="movies.png" alt="Movies"></p> </header> <p>Pixar has won yet another <i>Best Movie of the Year</i> award, making this its 8th win in the last 12 years.</p> </article> <article> <header> <h1>Latest TWiT episode is online</h1> <p><img src="podcasts.png" alt="Podcasts"></p> </header> <p>The latest TWiT episode has been posted, in which we hear several tech news stories as well as learning much more about the iPhone. This week, the panelists compare how reflective their iPhones' Apple logos are.</p> </article> </body>
Many pages include logos, insignia, flags, or emblems, which stand for a particular entity such as a company, organization, project, band, software package, country, or some such.
If the logo is being used to represent the entity, e.g. as a page heading, the alt
attribute must contain the name of the entity being represented by the logo. The alt
attribute must not contain text like the word "logo", as it is not the fact that it is a logo that is being conveyed, it's the entity itself.
If the logo is being used next to the name of the entity that it represents, then the logo is supplemental, and its alt
attribute must instead be empty.
If the logo is merely used as decorative material (as branding, or, for example, as a side image in an article that mentions the entity to which the logo belongs), then the entry below on purely decorative images applies. If the logo is actually being discussed, then it is being used as a phrase or paragraph (the description of the logo) with an alternative graphical representation (the logo itself), and the first entry above applies.
In the following snippets, all four of the above cases are present. First, we see a logo used to represent a company:
<h1><img src="XYZ.gif" alt="The XYZ company"></h1>
Next, we see a paragraph which uses a logo right next to the company name, and so doesn't have any alternative text:
<article> <h2>News</h2> <p>We have recently been looking at buying the <img src="alpha.gif" alt=""> ΑΒΓ company, a small Greek company specializing in our type of product.</p>
In this third snippet, we have a logo being used in an aside, as part of the larger article discussing the acquisition:
<aside><p><img src="alpha-large.gif" alt=""></p></aside> <p>The ΑΒΓ company has had a good quarter, and our pie chart studies of their accounts suggest a much bigger blue slice than its green and orange slices, which is always a good sign.</p> </article>
Finally, we have an opinion piece talking about a logo, and the logo is therefore described in detail in the alternative text.
<p>Consider for a moment their logo:</p> <p><img src="/images/logo" alt="It consists of a green circle with a green question mark centered inside it."></p> <p>How unoriginal can you get? I mean, oooooh, a question mark, how <em>revolutionary</em>, how utterly <em>ground-breaking</em>, I'm sure everyone will rush to adopt those specifications now! They could at least have tried for some sort of, I don't know, sequence of rounded squares with varying shades of green and bold white outlines, at least that would look good on the cover of a blue book.</p>
This example shows how the alternative text should be written such that if the image isn't available, and the text is used instead, the text flows seamlessly into the surrounding text, as if the image had never been there in the first place.
Sometimes, an image just consists of text, and the purpose of the image is not to highlight the actual typographic effects used to render the text, but just to convey the text itself.
In such cases, the alt
attribute must be present but must consist of the same text as written in the image itself.
Consider a graphic containing the text "Earth Day", but with the letters all decorated with flowers and plants. If the text is merely being used as a heading, to spice up the page for graphical users, then the correct alternative text is just the same text "Earth Day", and no mention need be made of the decorations:
<h1><img src="earthdayheading.png" alt="Earth Day"></h1>
In many cases, the image is actually just supplementary, and its presence merely reinforces the surrounding text. In these cases, the alt
attribute must be present but its value must be the empty string.
In general, an image falls into this category if removing the image doesn't make the page any less useful, but including the image makes it a lot easier for users of visual browsers to understand the concept.
A flowchart that repeats the previous paragraph in graphical form:
<p>The network passes data to the Tokenizer stage, which passes data to the Tree Construction stage. From there, data goes to both the DOM and to Script Execution. Script Execution is linked to the DOM, and, using document.write(), passes data to the Tokenizer.</p> <p><img src="parsing-model-overview.png" alt=""></p>
In these cases, it would be wrong to include alternative text that consists of just a caption. If a caption is to be included, then either the title
attribute can be used, or the figure
and figcaption
elements can be used. In the latter case, the image would in fact be a phrase or paragraph with an alternative graphical representation, and would thus require alternative text.
<!-- Using the title="" attribute --> <p>The network passes data to the Tokenizer stage, which passes data to the Tree Construction stage. From there, data goes to both the DOM and to Script Execution. Script Execution is linked to the DOM, and, using document.write(), passes data to the Tokenizer.</p> <p><img src="parsing-model-overview.png" alt="" title="Flowchart representation of the parsing model."></p>
<!-- Using <figure> and <figcaption> --> <p>The network passes data to the Tokenizer stage, which passes data to the Tree Construction stage. From there, data goes to both the DOM and to Script Execution. Script Execution is linked to the DOM, and, using document.write(), passes data to the Tokenizer.</p> <figure> <img src="parsing-model-overview.png" alt="The Network leads to the Tokenizer, which leads to the Tree Construction. The Tree Construction leads to two items. The first is Script Execution, which leads via document.write() back to the Tokenizer. The second item from which Tree Construction leads is the DOM. The DOM is related to the Script Execution."> <figcaption>Flowchart representation of the parsing model.</figcaption> </figure>
<!-- This is WRONG. Do not do this. Instead, do what the above examples do. --> <p>The network passes data to the Tokenizer stage, which passes data to the Tree Construction stage. From there, data goes to both the DOM and to Script Execution. Script Execution is linked to the DOM, and, using document.write(), passes data to the Tokenizer.</p> <p><img src="parsing-model-overview.png" alt="Flowchart representation of the parsing model."></p> <!-- Never put the image's caption in the alt="" attribute! -->
A graph that repeats the previous paragraph in graphical form:
<p>According to a study covering several billion pages, about 62% of documents on the Web in 2007 triggered the Quirks rendering mode of Web browsers, about 30% triggered the Almost Standards mode, and about 9% triggered the Standards mode.</p> <p><img src="rendering-mode-pie-chart.png" alt=""></p>
If an image is decorative but isn't especially page-specific — for example an image that forms part of a site-wide design scheme — the image should be specified in the site's CSS, not in the markup of the document.
Exceptions to this rule, in cases where CSS cannot be used to display an entirely decorative image, are covered by the HTML5: Techniques for providing useful text alternatives. [HTMLALTTECHS] Authors are also encouraged to consult the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 for more detailed information and acceptable techniques. [WCAG]
When a picture has been sliced into smaller image files that are then displayed together to form the complete picture again, one of the images must have its alt
attribute set as per the relevant rules that would be appropriate for the picture as a whole, and then all the remaining images must have their alt
attribute set to the empty string.
In the following example, a picture representing a company logo for XYZ Corp has been split into two pieces, the first containing the letters "XYZ" and the second with the word "Corp". The alternative text ("XYZ Corp") is all in the first image.
<h1><img src="logo1.png" alt="XYZ Corp"><img src="logo2.png" alt=""></h1>
In the following example, a rating is shown as three filled stars and two empty stars. While the alternative text could have been "★★★☆☆", the author has instead decided to more helpfully give the rating in the form "3 out of 5". That is the alternative text of the first image, and the rest have blank alternative text.
<p>Rating: <meter max=5 value=3><img src="1" alt="3 out of 5" ><img src="1" alt=""><img src="1" alt=""><img src="0" alt="" ><img src="0" alt=""></meter></p>
Generally, image maps should be used instead of slicing an image for links.
However, if an image is indeed sliced and any of the components of the sliced picture are the sole contents of links, then one image per link must have alternative text in its alt
attribute representing the purpose of the link.
In the following example, a picture representing the flying spaghetti monster emblem, with each of the left noodly appendages and the right noodly appendages in different images, so that the user can pick the left side or the right side in an adventure.
<h1>The Church</h1> <p>You come across a flying spaghetti monster. Which side of His Noodliness do you wish to reach out for?</p> <p><a href="?go=left" ><img src="fsm-left.png" alt="Left side. "></a ><img src="fsm-middle.png" alt="" ><a href="?go=right"><img src="fsm-right.png" alt="Right side."></a></p>
In some cases, the image is a critical part of the content. This could be the case, for instance, on a page that is part of a photo gallery. The image is the whole point of the page containing it.
How to provide alternative text for an image that is a key part of the content depends on the image's provenance.
When it is possible for detailed alternative text to be provided, for example if the image is part of a series of screenshots in a magazine review, or part of a comic strip, or is a photograph in a blog entry about that photograph, text that can serve as a substitute for the image must be given as the contents of the alt
attribute.
A screenshot in a gallery of screenshots for a new OS, with some alternative text:
<figure> <img src="KDE%20Light%20desktop.png" alt="The desktop is blue, with icons along the left hand side in two columns, reading System, Home, K-Mail, etc. A window is open showing that menus wrap to a second line if they cannot fit in the window. The window has a list of icons along the top, with an address bar below it, a list of icons for tabs along the left edge, a status bar on the bottom, and two panes in the middle. The desktop has a bar at the bottom of the screen with a few buttons, a pager, a list of open applications, and a clock."> <figcaption>Screenshot of a KDE desktop.</figcaption> </figure>
A graph in a financial report:
<img src="sales.gif" title="Sales graph" alt="From 1998 to 2005, sales increased by the following percentages with each year: 624%, 75%, 138%, 40%, 35%, 9%, 21%">
Note that "sales graph" would be inadequate alternative text for a sales graph. Text that would be a good caption is not generally suitable as replacement text.
In certain cases, the nature of the image might be such that providing thorough alternative text is impractical. For example, the image could be indistinct, or could be a complex fractal, or could be a detailed topographical map.
In these cases, the alt
attribute must contain some suitable alternative text, but it may be somewhat brief.
Sometimes there simply is no text that can do justice to an image. For example, there is little that can be said to usefully describe a Rorschach inkblot test. However, a description, even if brief, is still better than nothing:
<figure> <img src="/commons/a/a7/Rorschach1.jpg" alt="A shape with left-right symmetry with indistinct edges, with a small gap in the center, two larger gaps offset slightly from the center, with two similar gaps under them. The outline is wider in the top half than the bottom half, with the sides extending upwards higher than the center, and the center extending below the sides."> <figcaption>A black outline of the first of the ten cards in the Rorschach inkblot test.</figcaption> </figure>
Note that the following would be a very bad use of alternative text:
<!-- This example is wrong. Do not copy it. --> <figure> <img src="/commons/a/a7/Rorschach1.jpg" alt="A black outline of the first of the ten cards in the Rorschach inkblot test."> <figcaption>A black outline of the first of the ten cards in the Rorschach inkblot test.</figcaption> </figure>
Including the caption in the alternative text like this isn't useful because it effectively duplicates the caption for users who don't have images, taunting them twice yet not helping them any more than if they had only read or heard the caption once.
Another example of an image that defies full description is a fractal, which, by definition, is infinite in detail.
The following example shows one possible way of providing alternative text for the full view of an image of the Mandelbrot set.
<img src="ms1.jpeg" alt="The Mandelbrot set appears as a cardioid with its cusp on the real axis in the positive direction, with a smaller bulb aligned along the same center line, touching it in the negative direction, and with these two shapes being surrounded by smaller bulbs of various sizes.">
In some unfortunate cases, there might be no alternative text available at all, either because the image is obtained in some automated fashion without any associated alternative text (e.g. a Webcam), or because the page is being generated by a script using user-provided images where the user did not provide suitable or usable alternative text (e.g. photograph sharing sites), or because the author does not himself know what the images represent (e.g. a blind photographer sharing an image on his blog).
In such cases, the alt
attribute may be omitted, but one of the following conditions must be met as well:
title
attribute is present and has a non-empty value.Such cases are to be kept to an absolute minimum. If there is even the slightest possibility of the author having the ability to provide real alternative text, then it would not be acceptable to omit the alt
attribute.
A photo on a photo-sharing site, if the site received the image with no metadata other than the caption, could be marked up as follows:
<figure> <img src="1100670787_6a7c664aef.jpg"> <figcaption>Bubbles traveled everywhere with us.</figcaption> </figure>
It would be better, however, if a detailed description of the important parts of the image obtained from the user and included on the page.
A blind user's blog in which a photo taken by the user is shown. Initially, the user might not have any idea what the photo he took shows:
<article> <h1>I took a photo</h1> <p>I went out today and took a photo!</p> <figure> <img src="photo2.jpeg"> <figcaption>A photograph taken blindly from my front porch.</figcaption> </figure> </article>
Eventually though, the user might obtain a description of the image from his friends and could then include alternative text:
<article> <h1>I took a photo</h1> <p>I went out today and took a photo!</p> <figure> <img src="photo2.jpeg" alt="The photograph shows my hummingbird feeder hanging from the edge of my roof. It is half full, but there are no birds around. In the background, out-of-focus trees fill the shot. The feeder is made of wood with a metal grate, and it contains peanuts. The edge of the roof is wooden too, and is painted white with light blue streaks."> <figcaption>A photograph taken blindly from my front porch.</figcaption> </figure> </article>
Sometimes the entire point of the image is that a textual description is not available, and the user is to provide the description. For instance, the point of a CAPTCHA image is to see if the user can literally read the graphic. Here is one way to mark up a CAPTCHA (note the title
attribute):
<p><label>What does this image say? <img src="captcha.cgi?id=8934" title="CAPTCHA"> <input type=text name=captcha></label> (If you cannot see the image, you can use an <a href="?audio">audio</a> test instead.)</p>
Another example would be software that displays images and asks for alternative text precisely for the purpose of then writing a page with correct alternative text. Such a page could have a table of images, like this:
<table> <thead> <tr> <th> Image <th> Description <tbody> <tr> <td> <img src="2421.png" title="Image 640 by 100, filename 'banner.gif'"> <td> <input name="alt2421"> <tr> <td> <img src="2422.png" title="Image 200 by 480, filename 'ad3.gif'"> <td> <input name="alt2422"> </table>
Notice that even in this example, as much useful information as possible is still included in the title
attribute.
Since some users cannot use images at all (e.g. because they have a very slow connection, or because they are using a text-only browser, or because they are listening to the page being read out by a hands-free automobile voice Web browser, or simply because they are blind), the alt
attribute is only allowed to be omitted rather than being provided with replacement text when no alternative text is available and none can be made available, as in the above examples. Lack of effort from the part of the author is not an acceptable reason for omitting the alt
attribute.
Generally authors should avoid using img
elements for purposes other than showing images.
If an img
element is being used for purposes other than showing an image, e.g. as part of a service to count page views, then the alt
attribute must be the empty string.
In such cases, the width
and height
attributes should both be set to zero.