[html5] r1011 - /
whatwg at whatwg.org
whatwg at whatwg.org
Thu Aug 16 02:28:25 PDT 2007
Author: ianh
Date: 2007-08-16 02:28:25 -0700 (Thu, 16 Aug 2007)
New Revision: 1011
Modified:
index
source
Log:
[a] (1) Let's try to make it even clearer that the alt text should be included where possible.
Modified: index
===================================================================
--- index 2007-08-15 10:45:01 UTC (rev 1010)
+++ index 2007-08-16 09:28:25 UTC (rev 1011)
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
<h1 id=html-5>HTML 5</h1>
- <h2 class="no-num no-toc" id=working>Working Draft — 15 August 2007</h2>
+ <h2 class="no-num no-toc" id=working>Working Draft — 16 August 2007</h2>
<p>You can take part in this work. <a
href="http://www.whatwg.org/mailing-list">Join the working group's
@@ -12281,18 +12281,23 @@
design scheme, the image should be specified in the site's CSS, not in
the markup of the document.</p>
- <dt>A key part of the content that has no textual alternative
+ <dt>A key part of the content that doesn't have an obvious textual
+ alternative
<dd>
<p>In certain rare cases, the image is simply a critical part of the
- content, and there is no alternative text available. This could be the
- case, for instance, in a photo gallery, where a user has uploaded 3000
- photos from a vacation trip, without providing any descriptions of the
- images. The images are the whole <em>point</em> of the pages containing
- them.</p>
+ content, and there might even be no alternative text available. This
+ could be the case, for instance, in a photo gallery, where a user has
+ uploaded 3000 photos from a vacation trip, without providing any
+ descriptions of the images. The images are the whole <em>point</em> of
+ the pages containing them.</p>
<p>In such cases, the <code title=attr-img-alt><a
- href="#alt">alt</a></code> attribute must be omitted.</p>
+ href="#alt">alt</a></code> attribute may be omitted, but the <code
+ title=attr-img-alt><a href="#alt">alt</a></code> should be included,
+ with a useful value, if at all possible. If an image is a key part of
+ the content, the <code title=attr-img-alt><a href="#alt">alt</a></code>
+ attribute must not be specified with an empty value.</p>
<div class=example>
<p>A photo on a photo-sharing site:</p>
@@ -12308,14 +12313,45 @@
<strong><img src="KDE%20Light%20desktop.png"></strong>
<legend>Screenshot of a KDE desktop.</legend>
</figure></pre>
+
+ <p>In both cases, though, it would be better if a detailed description
+ of the important parts of the image were included.</p>
</div>
+ <div>
+ <p>Sometimes there simply is no text that can do justice to an image.
+ For example, there is little that can be said to usefully describe a
+ Rorschach inkblot test.</p>
+
+ <pre><figure>
+ <strong><img src="/commons/a/a7/Rorschach1.jpg"></strong>
+ <legend>A black outline of the first of the ten cards
+ in the Rorschach inkblot test.</legend>
+</figure></pre>
+
+ <p>Note that the following would be a very bad use of alternative text:</p>
+
+ <pre><!-- This example is wrong. Do not copy it. -->
+<figure>
+ <img src="/commons/a/a7/Rorschach1.jpg" alt="A black outline
+ of the first of the ten cards in the Rorschach inkblot test.">
+ <legend>A black outline of the first of the ten cards
+ in the Rorschach inkblot test.</legend>
+</figure></pre>
+
+ <p>Including the caption in the alternative text like this isn't useful
+ because it effectively duplicates the caption for users who don't have
+ images, taunting them twice yet not helping them any more than if they
+ had only read or heard the caption once.</p>
+ </div>
+
<p>Since some users cannot use images at all (e.g. because they have a
very slow connection, or because they are using a text-only browser, or
because they are listening to the page being read out by a hands-free
- automobile voice Web browser, or simply because they are blind), this
- technique should only be used when no alternative text is available and
- none can be made available, e.g. on automated image gallery sites.</p>
+ automobile voice Web browser, or simply because they are blind), the
+ <code title=attr-img-alt><a href="#alt">alt</a></code> attribute should
+ only be omitted when no alternative text is available and none can be
+ made available, e.g. on automated image gallery sites.</p>
<dt>An image in an e-mail or document intended for a specific person who
is known to be able to view images
Modified: source
===================================================================
--- source 2007-08-15 10:45:01 UTC (rev 1010)
+++ source 2007-08-16 09:28:25 UTC (rev 1011)
@@ -10291,19 +10291,23 @@
</dd>
- <dt>A key part of the content that has no textual alternative</dt>
+ <dt>A key part of the content that doesn't have an obvious textual alternative</dt>
<dd>
<p>In certain rare cases, the image is simply a critical part of
- the content, and there is no alternative text available. This
- could be the case, for instance, in a photo gallery, where a user
- has uploaded 3000 photos from a vacation trip, without providing
- any descriptions of the images. The images are the whole
- <em>point</em> of the pages containing them.</p>
+ the content, and there might even be no alternative text
+ available. This could be the case, for instance, in a photo
+ gallery, where a user has uploaded 3000 photos from a vacation
+ trip, without providing any descriptions of the images. The images
+ are the whole <em>point</em> of the pages containing them.</p>
<p>In such cases, the <code title="attr-img-alt">alt</code>
- attribute must be omitted.</p>
+ attribute may be omitted, but the <code
+ title="attr-img-alt">alt</code> should be included, with a useful
+ value, if at all possible. If an image is a key part of the
+ content, the <code title="attr-img-alt">alt</code> attribute must
+ not be specified with an empty value.</p>
<div class="example">
@@ -10321,15 +10325,51 @@
<legend>Screenshot of a KDE desktop.</legend>
</figure></pre>
+ <p>In both cases, though, it would be better if a detailed
+ description of the important parts of the image were
+ included.</p>
+
</div>
+ <div>
+
+ <p>Sometimes there simply is no text that can do justice to an
+ image. For example, there is little that can be said to usefully
+ describe a Rorschach inkblot test.</p>
+
+ <pre><figure>
+ <strong><img src="/commons/a/a7/Rorschach1.jpg"></strong>
+ <legend>A black outline of the first of the ten cards
+ in the Rorschach inkblot test.</legend>
+</figure></pre>
+
+ <p>Note that the following would be a very bad use of alternative
+ text:</p>
+
+ <pre><!-- This example is wrong. Do not copy it. -->
+<figure>
+ <img src="/commons/a/a7/Rorschach1.jpg" alt="A black outline
+ of the first of the ten cards in the Rorschach inkblot test.">
+ <legend>A black outline of the first of the ten cards
+ in the Rorschach inkblot test.</legend>
+</figure></pre>
+
+ <p>Including the caption in the alternative text like this isn't
+ useful because it effectively duplicates the caption for users
+ who don't have images, taunting them twice yet not helping them
+ any more than if they had only read or heard the caption
+ once.</p>
+
+ </div>
+
<p>Since some users cannot use images at all (e.g. because they
have a very slow connection, or because they are using a text-only
browser, or because they are listening to the page being read out
by a hands-free automobile voice Web browser, or simply because
- they are blind), this technique should only be used when no
- alternative text is available and none can be made available,
- e.g. on automated image gallery sites.</p>
+ they are blind), the <code title="attr-img-alt">alt</code>
+ attribute should only be omitted when no alternative text is
+ available and none can be made available, e.g. on automated image
+ gallery sites.</p>
</dd>
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