WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

RE: graphic slices

for

From: julian.rickards
Date: Jan 21, 2003 10:19AM


It is fine as far as I am concerned but with a couple of codacils.

1) Watch for total file size - if some of your audience uses slower dialup
modems, this can be an annoyance to say the least. If there are some slices
with a flat color in them, consider replacing the graphic in the slice with
a smaller (cropped) copy of the graphic and setting it as a background
graphic rather than a foreground graphic: the background graphic will repeat
to fill the space. If you have multiple slices that one background graphic
can be used, don't create multiple copies of it, use only one. To create
"opportunities" to use this method, use your slicing judiciously to create
these flat regions.

2) Anywhere there is a foreground graphic that is simply decoration, set the
alt text to alt="" (quotation marks right against each other without a
space) and non-visual browsers will ignore these.

You use the term slice which is a Fireworks term so I am taking a guess
here. It may not be possible to apply the empty alt to decorative slices
from within Fireworks, you may have to hand-code it.

Secondly, regarding my first point, again in Fireworks, you are not be able
to create background graphics. You will have to allow Fireworks to create
the foreground graphics for you. Then, using Fireworks, take the flat
foreground graphics, crop them to smaller versions. In HTML, remove the img
tag from the flat graphic cells and set the cell to use the cropped graphic
as a background graphic. Leave the height and widths of the cells as they
were.

HTH,

Jules