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Re: Is "this-or-that logo" adequate in an ALT text?

for

From: Jon Gunderson
Date: Aug 19, 2002 1:24PM

Here are some resources I have created for helping people create ALT
descriptions:

http://cita.rehab.uiuc.edu/design/design-images-short.html
http://cita.rehab.uiuc.edu/design/design-images-long.html

Jon


On Mon, 19 Aug 2002 <EMAIL REMOVED> wrote:

> It's hard to come up with a general "best rule" for alt text, since in
> many cases it's a matter of style. If you made a test of 10 different
> images and asked 10 different accessibility "experts" to provide alt
> text, you will likely get 10 different sets of answers.
>
> The key, I think, is to cultivate the mindset whereby Web authors take
> alt text into consideration, and not necessarily insist on one person's
> view of "the perfect alt text" for each image. In nearly every case,
> it is better to have tried and put what YOU think is appropriate --
> based on your knowledge of assistive technology -- than to attempt to
> please everyone with "the perfect answer."
>
> In fact, you can get different answers from different blind folks as
> well. If you are looking for perfection, you will fail, since you won't
> be able to please all of the folks all of the time.
>
> If you are looking for usability, however, that is fairly easily
> accomplished and will provide heightened access to a huge number of
> people who would be otherwise without.
>
> It is good to consider what the "best" alt text is. It is more
> important to have a "decent" alt text than to achieve this mythical
> "perfect" one.
>
> --Kynn
>
> PS: Okay, I will address the real issue instead of merely the meta-
> issue. Consider a page which has logo, such as the HTML Writers
> Guild's site. The logo is a button which reads "HTML Writers
> Guild." Then you've got an <h1> with the same text. What should
> the alt text be?
>
> Answer: It doesn't matter as long as it's within the realm of
> sensibility. You shouldn't strive for "the perfect alt
> text" because no such beast exists, but you should be
> consistent and thoughtful in your stylistic choice.
>
> Here's some choices you could make in this case:
>
> 1. The alt text could be alt="HTML Writers Guild". In nearly
> any situation where an image contains actual text, the alt
> text is likely just that text itself. Drawback? The page
> now reads as "HTML Writers Guild HTML Writers Guild" because
> there's already an <h1> with that very alt text.
>
> 2. The alt text could be alt="[HTML Writers Guild Logo]". (I
> think this is what it is currently.) This identifies the logo
> as more than simply the WORDS "HTML Writers Guild", and the
> identification of the image as a logo provides context as to
> the function of the image. It's an identifier, and may even
> prove to be a link of value. Remember that on many Web sites,
> the logo in the upper left corner is a link that returns you to
> the top page.
>
> 3. Keeping that in mind, one could conceivably set the alt text
> to alt="Back to HWG homepage" -- this is a less than optimal
> solution, though, because while it identifies the link function,
> it's not really valid alt text. The "Back to HWG homepage"
> text belongs in the title attribute of the link.
>
> Aside: The HWG logo is indeed a link to the HWG homepage on
> every page on the site, save for the homepage itself.
> On the home page, the link goes to the information page
> which tells you how to use the logo -- so in that case
> (and that case alone), the proposed alt text in #2
> may be the most accurate!
>
> 4. It's redundant and unnecessary to repeat "HTML Writers Guild",
> so maybe this is just decorative text. So let's just set it
> to alt="". We can put a title on it as per #3. The drawback
> is that the link function can easily get lost, especially in
> a browser such as Lynx, if the alt text is null or alt=" "
> (space).
>
> 5. There's also a problem with #1, #2, and #3 in that they put this
> logo's alt text before the headline. The headline really should
> come first on the page. This image is just part of the
> navigation bar, which is a secondary part of the page information
> visually, but its prominence in the markup makes it the first
> thing read by the screenreader. The page should instead be laid
> out using CSS for positioning, so that the headline comes first
> in the markup, and the logo -- with alt text of your choice --
> is down in the secondary (or tertiary!) navigation where it
> belongs. Approach #5 can be combined with any of #1 to #4
> above, and you will notice that the new location will indeed
> affect how you view the appropriateness of various alt text.
>
> So what's best? Again, it's a matter of style. It's more important
> that you think about it and apply your decision consistently. If
> you do that much, I will be happy.
>
>
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