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RE: alt text in 2 languages?

for

From: John Foliot - WATS.ca
Date: Apr 22, 2004 12:02PM


> On the other hand, lang attributes are not very essential in practical
> accessibility at present. Few browsers support them at all, and users
> probably understand the message even if a speech browser reads an Italian
> word by English rules or vice versa.
>

IBM's HomePageReader supports the LANG attribute and will switch language
modules "on-the-fly". I have been told that the latest version of JAWS now
also supports the LANG attribute and will do the switch (although I have not
personally verified this).

In practical terms, adding LANG attributes is not difficult, and is forward
compatible - and IMHO a good idea to implement at the development stage (as
opposed to having to retrofit a site 24 months from now...). For example,
Opera has announced their intent to integrate IBM's voice technologies into
their browser (http://www.opera.com/pressreleases/en/2004/03/23/) - and
since IBM's HPR already supports "on-the-fly" changing, does this mean so
too the next iteration of Opera?

Are there any betting men (or women) out there?

JF
--
John Foliot <EMAIL REMOVED>
Web Accessibility Specialist / Co-founder of WATS.ca
Web Accessibility Testing and Services
http://www.wats.ca 1.866.932.4878 (North America)



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