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

for

From: David Engebretson Jr.
Date: Jul 27, 2022 2:36PM

I agree with Glen (mostly). As a screen reader user I am alerted that something is a "graphic". I don't need to know it's a photo of, image of, portrait of,etc. because that is built in to screen reader technology. It just becomes cognitive overload for assistive technology users to add that extra verbiage in alt text.

However, regarding a "logo", I think that it's possible to describe logo images in a meaningful way. Personally I think that the designers who create logo's should be the folks responsible for creating the alt text of the image; they know what their intent was when they created the logo. I've seen some really meaningful alt text on logo's.

If the designer is no longer available to create the alt text, or someone else is responsible for the copy, then "Company XYZ logo" is enough alt text for me. I tend to skip over the graphic of the logo and wonder what is visually intriguing but I, even though I might try, can't control their workflow.

Basically, if someone doesn't care enough to describe their logo then I let it go. I'm not in control.

Cheers,
David




-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf Of glen walker
Sent: Wednesday, July 27, 2022 12:49 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Decorative Logos [WebAIM-Forum Digest, Vol 208, Issue 24]

Yes, in general you don't need to say "image of...", "picture of...", "logo of..." because the screen reader is already going to announce that it's an image or graphic, but there are situations where it might be helpful.

With regards to logos, if there's a legal reason for saying so, as Bevi mentioned, perhaps for copyright purposes, then saying "logo" might be required or strongly encouraged by your legal department.

If I'm on a museum site and there is a mixture of paintings and photos, then I might want to hear "painting of..." or "picture of..."

But for images used in buttons or links, you generally don't want/need the "image of".


On Wed, Jul 27, 2022 at 11:37 AM Laura Roberts < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
wrote:

> 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
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf
> > Of Andrew Barnett
> > Sent: Tuesday, July 26, 2022 4:43 PM
> > To: <EMAIL REMOVED>
> > Subject: Re: [WebAIM] WebAIM-Forum Digest, Vol 208, Issue 24
> >
> > Is there any case where a logo can be considered decorative?
> >
> >
> > > > > > archives at http://webaim.org/discussion/archives
> > > >
> > > archives at http://webaim.org/discussion/archives
> >