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Re: Blank alt

for

From: Jared Smith
Date: Oct 24, 2002 12:47PM

The suggested method for empty alt tags is alt="", because it is truly
empty or null, whereas " " is not. You often see alt=" " because many
web development programs don't allow empty alt text through the
interface, but require you to edit the code itself to add empty alt
text. But, adding a space in the interface will add the alt=" ", thus
making the page HTML compliant, but not providing the most correct way
of providing alt text.

An easy fix for this in web development programs (specifically
Dreamweaver and Frontpage) is to add a unique alt string, such as
'xxxxx' into the interface for each image that requires empty alt
text. When you're done, do a find and replace for all instances of
'xxxxx' and replace it with nothing. This effectively creates empty
alt text for every image that needs it without having to get into the
code - something that's great for beginners, teachers, secretaries, or
others that don't know HTML (or those of us too busy/lazy to edit
code).

Jared Smith
WebAIM (Web Accessibility In Mind)
Center for Persons with Disabilities
Utah State University
435-797-7024


***************
On Thursday, October 24, 2002 you sent:
pkce> Howdy;

pkce> Is there a hard and fast rule for using alt="" (without the space), and alt
pkce> =" " (with a space)?
pkce> I've seen both. What are the specific differences?

pkce> -KaroL
pkce> Cleveland State University


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