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Re: Linked Text Image Violating WCAG's 1.4.5?l

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From: Ugurcan Kutluoglu
Date: Aug 17, 2017 5:57PM

Hi Peter,

I'm not sure if it is a clear violation, but it certainly is an
accessibility barrier. I don't think it is going to cause any problems for
screen reader users if images have correct text alternatives. However,
bitmap text doesn't play well screen magnifiers due to pixellation. It will
also cause problems in Windows High Contrast mode, especially if you use
transparent PNG's. I'd definitely stay away from bitmap text where
possible, even if you provide a text alternative.

When 1.4.5 was released, there was no reliable way to embed fonts, create
shadows or gradients with CSS. Web developers were doing crazy things with
Flash to display fancy fonts (Remember Cufon? Sifr?) So, read the WCAG
criteria in that context.

Today, CSS can do almost everything the Photoshop's Effect palette can. I
really can't think of any situation that requires the developer to use
raster text anywhere.

Ugi

On Thu, Aug 17, 2017 at 3:14 PM, Peter Shikli < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

>
> Understaing WCAG 2.0, http://www.w3.org/TR/UNDERSTANDING-WCAG20/ states
> that unless the use of text in an image is essential to the information
> being conveyed, as with text in a logo, text should be used to convey the
> information instead of image of text. Specifically, it says that, "If an
> author can use text to achieve the same visual effect, he or she should
> present the information as text rather than using an image."
>
> In "Examples of Success Criterion 1.4.5", the document discusses
> navigation items. It says that the navigational links can have both an icon
> and text to describe the target of the links and then describes a CSS
> technique for achieving this. I can see WebAIM's menu bar works like this,
> as does ours.
>
> The clarification I need is this: Does this mean that an image with text,
> such as "About us" linking to an "about us" webpage, must be rendered as
> text, not as an image? Common practice is to use an image including the
> text "About us" with an alt="About Us" attribute and nest the image in the
> link element. Are we to tell all these webmasters that their linked images
> with text are WCAG 2.0 violations?
>
> If not, how do we avoid a WCAG 2.0 violation since that is what the above
> words seem to say?
>
>
> > > > >