WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: Microsoft Word: Decorative Image Accessibility

for

From: glen walker
Date: Jun 26, 2019 11:55AM

In my version of Word 2016 (on a PC), there is not a "decorative" option
for images. I know *Powerpoint* 2019 added a "decorative" checkbox. Not
sure about Word 2019. I'm just double checking what version of Word you're
using and where you're seeing the decorative checkbox. When I run the a11y
checking in Word 2016, there's no mention of making decorative images.

And just one clarification, and it's kind of a nit-pick, but you said a
blank alt text makes an image decorative for the web. I wanted to make
sure you meant an empty alt text (quote-quote) and not a single blank
character as the alt text. The latter is seen as a valid alt text and will
read the blank. An empty alt text will essentially hide the image.


On Wed, Jun 26, 2019 at 10:33 AM Jim Homme < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> Hi,
> This is with Word 2016.
>
>
> * The accessibility checker wants me to mark decorative images with a
> check box.
> * When I do that, JAWS says the word "Decorative" for these images.
> * NVDA does not say anything for these same images, unless I use the
> Advanced settings and use the experimental UIA settings.
> * On the web, blank alt text makes decorative images disappear for
> both screen readers.
> * I was lead to believe that if I put a single space as the alt text
> in Word, that a screen reader would ignore any image with a single space as
> alt text.
> * As a screen reader user, I am used to not hearing anything for
> decorative images, because this is how I was trained it should work.
>
> My question is: How should this work, since I do not necessarily know
> which screen reader a person might have when they read my Word document?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Jim
>
>
>
> ==========
> Jim Homme
> Digital Accessibility
> Bender Consulting Services
> 412-787-8567
>
> https://www.benderconsult.com/our%20services/hightest-accessible-technology-solutions
>
> > > > >