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

for

From: Laura Roberts
Date: Jul 27, 2022 11:36AM

Bevi, I read elsewhere on WebAIM that it's unnecessary to use the word
"logo" in the alt text. I've always found this confusing.

On Tue, Jul 26, 2022, 5:35 PM < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> 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.
>
> — — —
> Bevi Chagnon | Designer, Accessibility Technician | <EMAIL REMOVED>
> — — —
> PubCom: Technologists for Accessible Design + Publishing
> consulting ' training ' development ' design ' sec. 508 services
> Upcoming classes at www.PubCom.com/classes
> — — —
> Latest blog-newsletter – Simple Guide to Writing Alt-Text
>
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