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Re: Decorative Logos [WebAIM-Forum Digest, Vol 208, Issue 24]

for

From: chagnon
Date: Jul 26, 2022 3:34PM

Yes, but it's rare.

A logo represents the owner of the information or product, and many logos are legally trademarked, which means that no one can use that logo but its owner.

In our hyper-faked world of news and dis-information, a logo can help authenticate that the information is from the logo's rightful owner and is not a deep-fake or knock-off.

So we recommend that at least one copy of the publisher's logo be live with Alt Text stating, "Logo, ABC agency."

All other iterations of the logo can be artifacted, including when used in repeating headers and footers, as background images, or in different sections of the webpage or document.

Regarding the term "Decorative" . . .
It's a subjective term, and as a former professor of graphic design, I can make a strong case that nearly everything on a webpage or document page is decorative — that is, it's visually designed to grab the attention of sighted users.

In accessibility, the term "decorative" is inaccurate.
The real decision to make is whether to artifact (or hide) the information from those using screen readers and other A T, or keep it live and discoverable by A T.

In our classes and consulting, we urge our clients to ditch the term "decorative" because it just sends everyone down a bottomless rabbit hole of confusion and misunderstanding.

So every graphic, whether a logo or something else, should have either Alt Text to describe it, or be artifacted to hide it.

That's my 2 cents.

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Bevi Chagnon | Designer, Accessibility Technician | <EMAIL REMOVED>
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