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Re: LONGDESC in HTML5?

for

From: John Foliot
Date: Sep 25, 2010 4:24PM

Vlad Alexander (XStandard) wrote:
>
> Here is the rule I
> propose. Alternate text is a textual substitute for an image and
> appropriate alternate text can only be authored by taking into
> consideration its context (content preceding and following the image).

Note, I don't necessarily agree with the current alt text on these pages,
but please Vlad, apply your rule to this page's images:
http://www.happywebbies.com/

or this one:
http://www.zinkwazi.com/scripts/demo/phpslideshow.php?directory=photos

Context, yes, but not as a print document. Continuing to use that paradigm
is simply wrong.


>
> John wrote: "As such, they [Web pages] should be authored to be what
> they are, not what they might be re-purposed to be. Suggesting
> otherwise (I argue) can actually degrade the user experience of non-
> sighted users."
>
> It's not just about re-purposing content. It's about recognizing that
> the Web is made up of more than just graphical Web browsers with AT
> being dependent and sitting on top of these browsers. Large consumers
> of Web content are applications (machines) that can only view the Web
> as textual content.

Such as...?

Web-based "machines" (applications) such as Search Engines process 'pages'
in their entirety and capture link associations at the same time. Please
name one web-based "machine" that only processes text, and does not
process hyperlinks at the same time.

JF