[whatwg] ALT and equivalent representation

[Bill Mason]

Philip Taylor wrote:
> I believe the company logo case is also unclear in the spec. See e.g.
> http://www.google.com/ (when it's not a special day) - the image is
> simply the word "Google" (as a page heading, so it should probably be
> in <h1>), so common sense says it should have alt="Google". The spec
> phrase "Icons: a short phrase or label with an alternative graphical
> representation" sounds like it might apply here, but none of the cases
> in that section seems to work: in particular, I don't think "the logo
> is being used to represent the entity" would apply, because the
> purpose of the image is not to represent the entity (as it would be in
> e.g. a list of search engines that shows small images of all their
> logos so you can choose your favourite), and instead its purpose is to
> tell users what site they are on (and to make it look prettier).

I would disagree with this assessment.

A definition of "logo" that I submit as both typical and accurate is "a 
graphic representation or symbol of a company name, trademark, 
abbreviation, etc., often uniquely designed for ready recognition" [1]. 
Whether or not the logo is standing alone or has a surrounding context 
of other logos is not relevant to whether or not it is performing a 
representation function.

Even if your assessment is correct, I believe my suggestion for 
clarifying 'equivalent representation' would apply to your situation in 
any event.

[1] http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/logo
-- 
Bill Mason
Accessible Internet
whatwg at accessibleinter.net
http://accessibleinter.net/