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Re: longdesc or aria-describedby for infographic

for

From: Chaals McCathie Nevile
Date: Nov 23, 2015 7:30PM

On Tue, 24 Nov 2015 12:38:02 +1100, < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> I'd suggest longdesc (with, if you can get away with it, a visible
> standard link as well for the poor suckers on webkit browsers).

As well as those of us who aren't using a screenreader, haven't got a
decent longdesc extension, but can't *clearly* see the image, or can't
readily understand what it means.

> This is not because longdesc support is great -- it isn't:

(It's pretty good in screenreaders other than VoiceOver, and woeful
otherwise without browser extensions ;( ).

> http://webaim.org/techniques/alttext/longdesctestcases.htm -- but
> because aria-describedby is not announced as a skippable long
> description, and will just read through the whole thing like any in page
> text.

And pretty much isn't available to people who don't use screenreaders. So
moving stuff off-screen is a pretty bad answer for lots of different
people, for a couple of different reasons.

> 2300 characters seems like a lot to listen to without announced
> skippability.
>
> Alternately, if you do use describedby, you could:
>
> 1. Give it some header text and a "skip to end" link.
> 2. Make it visually focusable for VI users who don't use screen readers,
> via a visible link that brings the text on screen.

Yeah… that's an approach.

cheers

Chaals

> Deborah
>
>
> On Tue, 24 Nov 2015, Angela French wrote:
>
>> Hello,
>> I have an infographic and have been provided a description for it that
>> is 2313 characters long. I'm wondering whether to use <img
>> longdesc="description...." /> or use aria-describedby and position it
>> off page.
>>
>> Can anyone advise me as to what is the most preferred by users of
>> screen readers?
>>
>> Thank you
>>
>> Angela French
>> Internet Specialist
>> Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges
>> 360-704-4316
>> <EMAIL REMOVED> <mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> >
>> www.checkoutacollege.com<;http://www.checkoutacollege.com/>;
>> www.sbctc.edu<;http://www.sbctc.edu/>;
>>
>> >> >> >> >


--
Charles McCathie Nevile - web standards - CTO Office, Yandex
<EMAIL REMOVED> - - - Find more at http://yandex.com