On 7/17/06, Maciejewski, James <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > It's a new standard to comply with handicap accessibility - we have to > include ALT text for all images (this is for an online WebHelp system).
Ah yes, policy created by people who get the letter of accessibility without understanding the meaning of accessibility. ;-) Trust me, people with visual disabilities (or who simply have images turned off), don't want to know about EVERY image on the page. Nor are you required to tell them. ONLY those images which contain meaning need to be described, and those should be included in the HTML markup, not the CSS. Any IMG where you have an empty ALT attribute should be a CSS background instead. For example: a logo as a title might need to be described; a logo as a background design element would not. The point of accessibilty is to help others get the meaning and content of a page. That means you can't simply apply blanket rules, but need to understand what rules apply where, and not use accessibility rules to completely ruin real accessibility. In other words, you need to be aware of what you're doing and why you're doing it. Back in the 90s, there were plenty of pages with table based layout with imgs contain ALT such as "This is the corner of the design" or "This is a spacer gif". Now, imagine having to hear that a few dozen times to get how that destroyed rather than enhanced accessibility. CSS is definately a useful way to enhance accessibility, as it allows you to toss out a lot of HTML kruft, and reduce the HTML to structure and content. It makes it harder to overlook things, and easier to maintain an meaningful flow of the information. P.S. If you're using the program, WebHelp, you may be biting off more than you can chew. It uses HUNDREDS of spacer gifs and tables for layout. It's definately a candidate for a total rewrite using CSS. -- Marc Luzietti Flagship Project Bayview Financial, L.P. (305) 341-5624 ______________________________________________________________________ css-discuss [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.css-discuss.org/mailman/listinfo/css-d IE7b2 testing hub -- http://css-discuss.incutio.com/?page=IE7 List wiki/FAQ -- http://css-discuss.incutio.com/ Supported by evolt.org -- http://www.evolt.org/help_support_evolt/
