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Thread: RE: Blank alt
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From: Jukka Korpela
Date: Thu, Oct 24 2002 11:30PM
Subject: RE: Blank alt
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Jim Thatcher wrote:
> There is also logic involved. Alt="" (no space) is empty alt
> text, - -
> Alt=" " (one space) is ... well one space.
Exactly. In other words, alt="" says that the textual equivalent to the
image is an empty string, i.e. nothing should appear in place of the image,
whereas alt=" " says that a string consisting of one space is the textual
equivalent.
> It is neither null nor empty. It should never be used.
Never say "never".
Suppose you're given the task of fixing a page that uses a spacer image to
create a gap of specific width between two words and has no alt attribute
for the image. Suppose you're not allowed to do anything but add an alt
attribute; maybe it's a piece of poetry that must not be otherwise touched
by mortals. Wouldn't you use alt=" " to make the words have _some_ spacing
between them?
(Well, maybe e.g. alt=" " would work better.)
> If any tool complains about alt="" it is the tools problem!
Right. Silencing a "validator" with something unnatural (like alt="empty")
would surely create problems. Browsers are a more serious issue, but I would
not recommend using e.g. alt=" " just to cope with a browser that does not
treat alt="" correctly, since then there would be problems with other
browsers than deal with it properly.
--
Jukka Korpela, senior adviser
TIEKE Finnish Information Society Development Centre
http://www.tieke.fi/
Diffuse Business Guide to Web Accessibility and Design for All:
http://www.diffuse.org/accessibility.html
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