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Thread: Blank alt
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From: p.karol@csuohio.edu
Date: Thu, Oct 24 2002 7:00AM
Subject: Blank alt
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Howdy;
Is there a hard and fast rule for using alt="" (without the space), and alt
=" " (with a space)?
I've seen both. What are the specific differences?
-KaroL
Cleveland State University
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From: Timothy J. Luoma
Date: Thu, Oct 24 2002 11:25AM
Subject: Re: Blank alt
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= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = wrote:
> Howdy;
>
> Is there a hard and fast rule for using alt="" (without the space), and alt
> =" " (with a space)?
None that I am aware of, although there are folks who advocate for both.
> I've seen both. What are the specific differences?
Sometimes the validator (Bobby?) will complain about alt="" but not
about alt=" "
Some dumb browsers, not mentioning any names, will pop up an empty
tooltip if you use alt=" " although this can sometimes be alleviated by
using a title="Whatever"
TjL
--
Now showing: Zen and the Art of Beta Testing
Brother, can you spare a dime? (Opera selling for $29)
OperaBlog: Beyond30 http://tntluoma.com/beyond30
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From: Jim Thatcher
Date: Thu, Oct 24 2002 11:54AM
Subject: RE: Blank alt
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There is also logic involved. Alt="" (no space) is empty alt text, null alt
text, no information. That is what should be used for images that carry no
information.
Alt=" " (one space) is ... well one space. It is neither null nor empty. It
should never be used. If any tool complains about alt="" it is the tools
problem! The browser is not, in my opinion, dumb (in this case). It is
correctly displaying the alt text consisting of one space.
Jim
Accessibility Consulting
http://jimthatcher.com
512-306-0931
508 Web accessibility Tutorial: http://jimthatcher.com/webcourse1.htm
-----Original Message-----
From: Timothy J. Luoma [mailto: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = ]
Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2002 1:16 PM
To: = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
Subject: Re: Blank alt
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = wrote:
> Howdy;
>
> Is there a hard and fast rule for using alt="" (without the space), and
alt
> =" " (with a space)?
None that I am aware of, although there are folks who advocate for both.
> I've seen both. What are the specific differences?
Sometimes the validator (Bobby?) will complain about alt="" but not
about alt=" "
Some dumb browsers, not mentioning any names, will pop up an empty
tooltip if you use alt=" " although this can sometimes be alleviated by
using a title="Whatever"
TjL
--
Now showing: Zen and the Art of Beta Testing
Brother, can you spare a dime? (Opera selling for $29)
OperaBlog: Beyond30 http://tntluoma.com/beyond30
Other Stuff http://tntluoma.com/
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From: Jared Smith
Date: Thu, Oct 24 2002 12:47PM
Subject: Re: Blank alt
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The suggested method for empty alt tags is alt="", because it is truly
empty or null, whereas " " is not. You often see alt=" " because many
web development programs don't allow empty alt text through the
interface, but require you to edit the code itself to add empty alt
text. But, adding a space in the interface will add the alt=" ", thus
making the page HTML compliant, but not providing the most correct way
of providing alt text.
An easy fix for this in web development programs (specifically
Dreamweaver and Frontpage) is to add a unique alt string, such as
'xxxxx' into the interface for each image that requires empty alt
text. When you're done, do a find and replace for all instances of
'xxxxx' and replace it with nothing. This effectively creates empty
alt text for every image that needs it without having to get into the
code - something that's great for beginners, teachers, secretaries, or
others that don't know HTML (or those of us too busy/lazy to edit
code).
Jared Smith
WebAIM (Web Accessibility In Mind)
Center for Persons with Disabilities
Utah State University
435-797-7024
***************
On Thursday, October 24, 2002 you sent:
pkce> Howdy;
pkce> Is there a hard and fast rule for using alt="" (without the space), and alt
pkce> =" " (with a space)?
pkce> I've seen both. What are the specific differences?
pkce> -KaroL
pkce> Cleveland State University
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