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Re: Null or empty ALT attribute?

for

From: Paul Bohman
Date: Jun 10, 2005 3:52PM

Glenda wrote:
> Ok. So when would someone use an empty ALT or would they?

I don't know of a context where alt=" " (alt equals quote space quote)
ought to be used. I use alt="" (alt equals quote quote) quite a bit,
because I often explain the images in the context of the text or else
the image is there only for aesthetic purposes, and does not change the
meaning of the content. In these cases, the image could be left off
completely without sacrificing screen reader accessibility.

Of course, the pictures are there because they enhance accessibility for
visual users, but that's somewhat of a different (but very important) topic.

The quote space quote idea doesn't have any advantages for anything that
I'm aware of.

--
Paul Bohman
Director of Training Products and Services
WebAIM (Web Accessibility in Mind)
www.webaim.org
Utah State University
www.usu.edu