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Re: Alt Tags length and Content

for

From: JAMESICUS@aol.com
Date: Aug 6, 2003 12:53PM

<EMAIL REMOVED> wrote:

<<<<<
Well, the WAI pages have different accessibility problems, and this is one
of them. In fact, that page http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/ does not actually
comply with the guidelines even at single A level. It does not indicate
all changes in language (such as names of people in languages other than
English). Whether Checkpoint 4.1 is a sensible requirement at present, as
Priority 1 requirement, is a separate issue; the point is claiming
conformance to a WCAG 1.0 is simply wrong if that checkpoint is not
satisfied. (By the way, who can honestly say to have checked that his
document complies with Checkpoint 14.1, "Use the clearest and simplest
language appropriate for a site's content.", which is Priority 1 too.)
>>>>>

Well, I was really addressing the subject of the posting rather than the accessibility deficiencies of the page. However, I don't understand your interpretation of WCAG 1.0 Checkpoint 4.1. I don't see where it requires identification of all changes in language. Rather, it specifies identification of the predominant natural language of a document's content through markup or HTTP headers. Of course, using the clearest and simplest language appropriate for a site's content (Checkpoint 14.1) is a nebulous requirement at best and a pedantic minefield at worst.

<<<<<
My point is that the W3C WAI icons themselves are worse than
useless. The long ALT text is a symptom of the fact that they realized
that W3C WAI-AA WCAG 1.0 (the most obvious candidate for an ALT text) is
horrendously cryptic when read aloud - but it's no less cryptic to the eye
when presented as an image, even though the parts appear in different font
styles and colors. This, in turn, is a symptom of the problem that the
icon tries to say something rather complicated, which is unnecessary to
say, and almost always false at that.
>>>>>

I don't see it that way. By definition, "cryptic" means to be obscure or mysterious and to conceal. I don't think the W3C's "Level Triple-A conformance icon, W3C-WAI Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0" alt text is obscure or mysterious -- particularly since the icon links to a descriptive page -- and I don't think they intended to conceal anything, albeit their accessibility transgressions (in your eyes, dear sir) are regrettable. I also do not find the aforementioned alt text is so horrendous when read aloud -- I find it quite descriptive. I believe the visual icon (image) is sufficiently well known by the Web Content Accessibility community at large -- or the prompting link will titillate curiosity -- and is a useful propaganda tool for engendering Accessibility awareness.

James Pickering
http://www.jp29.org/