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

for

From: Steve Vosloo
Date: Aug 20, 2002 5:29AM

How do you know when an image is a link -- does Jaws do that for you?

It seems then that the ALT tag of an image should still describe the
link, just not say "Link to ...". So:

"Link to home page" becomes "Home page"
"Link to Microsoft.com" becomes "Microsoft.com"

??

Thanks




-----Original Message-----
From: Kugel, Mary [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
Sent: 20 August 2002 01:18 PM
To: ' <EMAIL REMOVED> '
Subject: RE: Is "this-or-that logo" adequate in an ALT text?


Thank you. I often use the list links feature in JAWS and then sort
alphabetically. If all the links have been label "Link to...", all
the
links start with the letter "L" which makes this feature not useable.

Mary

-----Original Message-----
From: John Foliot - bytown internet [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
Sent: Tuesday, August 20, 2002 6:58 AM
To: <EMAIL REMOVED>
Subject: RE: Is "this-or-that logo" adequate in an ALT text?


Oh please do avoid using "Link To..." in your alt text.

At least one screen reading technology (JAWS) will identify a hyperlink
by saying "Link", thus what you hear is "Link, link to foo", "Link, link
to bar", etc. Also, using JAWS, users can call up and search a list of
links on any given page, a "quick scan" as it were of the links from
your page. This list can be searched (by the Text or Alt Text inclosed
within the <a> tags); if every link starts with "Link to" it negates
this useful fuction.

JF

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Steve Vosloo [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
> Sent: August 20, 2002 2:37 AM
> To: <EMAIL REMOVED>
> Subject: RE: Is "this-or-that logo" adequate in an ALT text?
>
>
> 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.
>
> I've seen this kind of comment before. Is there a general rule about
> verbs in ALT tags? For the ALTs on all my images that are links I
> start with "Link to ..." Is this wrong? If a logo links you back to
> the homepage, then the function of that image is just that -- so why
> not describe it as such in the ALT attribute?
>
> Thanks
> Steve
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: <EMAIL REMOVED> [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
> Sent: 19 August 2002 09:23 AM
> To: <EMAIL REMOVED>
> Subject: Re: Is "this-or-that logo" adequate in an ALT text?
>
>
> 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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>
>
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