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Re: Opinions/Facts on Alt Images

for

From: Léonie Watson
Date: Jun 1, 2016 2:23AM

Not sure if this is useful, but a while ago I wrote about my take on images and alts:
http://tink.uk/text-descriptions-emotion-rich-images/

Léonie.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: WebAIM-Forum [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
> On Behalf Of _mallory
> Sent: 01 June 2016 09:17
> To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Opinions/Facts on Alt Images
>
> I waffled on this with product lists. I ended up using alts but really wish I
> hadn't now that I look back. I should have used alt="".
>
> This is what screen reader users get today, maybe they love this but it drives
> me batty:
> "Foto: GEHEUGENKAART SANDISK MICRO SDHC CLASS4 32GB +ADAPTER"
> GEHEUGENKAART SANDISK MICRO SDHC CLASS4 32GB +ADAPTER (both are
> inside a single link to the product's page).
>
> Certainly a list of human names sounds less irritating than product names
> supplied from a central european manufacturer database, but still... the
> length of that compared to "Sue Smith" pushes me even closer to alt="" for
> those images.
>
> But I'm quite interested to hear if people, esp low-vision, would still really
> rather have that alt attr filled. If so, I'd sleep better :P
>
> _mallory
>
> On Tue, May 31, 2016 at 07:41:34PM +0000, Tim Harshbarger wrote:
> > I think it would be difficult to claim the pictures are just decorative. I
> suspect they are present to allow someone using the directory to be able to
> identify the person.
> >
> > I was going to suggest that alt="" would be ok since the information is
> redundant due to the name--but I guess that doesn't make sense. If you
> removed all the names and replaced them with just the images, the directory
> would be pretty worthless.
> >
> > And it appears Bevi answered the question that might go something like "If
> someone uses the alt text to identify the picture, then they can't be using
> the picture to identify the people. So why include the alt text?" Apparently,
> as long as the alt text identifies the image, the user at least as has the option
> to use the picture for the intended user task--to identify the person. It really
> isn't for me to say how they go about doing that or what degree of disability
> they need to have before they would use an alt text. Thanks for the
> information, Bevi.
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: WebAIM-Forum [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
> On
> > Behalf Of Chagnon | PubCom
> > Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2016 2:00 PM
> > To: 'WebAIM Discussion List' < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> > Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Opinions/Facts on Alt Images
> >
> > Our office always tags them and we try to minimize the length of the Alt-
> text to avoid redundency as much as possible.
> >
> > I found from my work with people with low vision that they often can see
> that there's a photo/graphic, but can't make out the details and want
> reassurance that they aren't missing anything.
> >
> > Another way to think about it: I doubt anyone could file a complaint or
> lawsuit for including the Alt-Text, but they might be able to if there wasn't
> Alt-text.
> >
> > --Bevi Chagnon
> > www.PubCom.com
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: WebAIM-Forum [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
> On
> > Behalf Of Alex Hall
> > Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2016 2:50 PM
> > To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> > Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Opinions/Facts on Alt Images
> >
> > Personally, I'd always tag the images. No, doing so likely won't offer
> > additional details to the user, but which would you rather hear while
> > browsing:
> >
> > John Smith
> > img_0040297 at 2016-04-01 8:27, image
> >
> > or
> >
> > John Smith
> > Picture of John Smith, image
> >
> > If nothing else, this tells the user they aren't missing details by not seeing
> the image, and that the image is just there as a visual reference.
> > That is, it isn't a link or clickable item they need to interact with to do
> something with John.
> >
> > On Tue, May 31, 2016 at 2:41 PM, Campbell, John < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> wrote:
> >
> > > Hello,
> > >
> > > I was looking at an online directories that have Names and Data next
> > > to or under the image of the person. Do you think they need to Alt
> > > Tagged anyway or are the images considered decorative?
> > >
> > > --
> > > John R. Campbell, MS, ATP, RET
> > > Director of Accessibility & Access
> > > Lehigh Carbon Community College
> > > > > > > > > archives at http://webaim.org/discussion/archives
> > > > > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Alex Hall
> > Automatic Distributors, IT department
> > <EMAIL REMOVED>
> > > > > > archives at http://webaim.org/discussion/archives
> > > >
> > > > > > archives at http://webaim.org/discussion/archives
> > > > > > > > archives at http://webaim.org/discussion/archives
> > > > > http://webaim.org/discussion/archives
>