WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: longdesc or aria-describedby for infographic

for

From: deborah.kaplan@suberic.net
Date: Nov 23, 2015 6:38PM


I'd suggest longdesc (with, if you can get away with it, a visible standard link as well for the poor suckers on webkit browsers). This is not because longdesc support is great -- it isn't: http://webaim.org/techniques/alttext/longdesctestcases.htm -- but because aria-describedby is not announced as a skippable long description, and will just read through the whole thing like any in page text. 2300 characters seems like a lot to listen to without announced skippability.

Alternately, if you do use describedby, you could:

1. Give it some header text and a "skip to end" link.
2. Make it visually focusable for VI users who don't use screen readers, via a visible link that brings the text on screen.

Deborah


On Tue, 24 Nov 2015, Angela French wrote:

> Hello,
> I have an infographic and have been provided a description for it that is 2313 characters long. I'm wondering whether to use <img longdesc="description...." /> or use aria-describedby and position it off page.
>
> Can anyone advise me as to what is the most preferred by users of screen readers?
>
> Thank you
>
> Angela French
> Internet Specialist
> Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges
> 360-704-4316
> <EMAIL REMOVED> <mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> www.checkoutacollege.com<;http://www.checkoutacollege.com/>;
> www.sbctc.edu<;http://www.sbctc.edu/>;
>
> > > > --