Access Curmudgeon wrote:
Are they pulling in teh background images via CSS? Are they missing ALT
values?
Yes, each link has an ID which is used to display the appropriate
background image. Therefore there is nothing to attach an alt to.
<li><a href="/" id="home" title="Home"><span>Home</span></a></li>
Hmm. Would you judge the line above to be consistant with the WCAG
2.0 success criteria? I do not like it, but I cannot figure out how
to fail it!
I don't think there is an intrinsic problem with the HTML (although if
you were thinking of a specific criteria let me know). It is the CSS
(i.e. presentation) that is causing the issue.
From their point of view (not knowing how screen readers often work),
they have included the text, so they probably think it's fine. It is
because safari/VO (and others) are not simple text-browsers that can be
confusing to developers. E.g. how many times have you had to tell people
that screen readers do actually use JavaScript?
I respectfully disagree about said technique being a "best practice"
but it is a technique is that many people smarter than me champion.
Sorry, I should re-phrase: If you are going to hide text, then it is
best to move it rather than set it not to display (or not be visible,
another CSS property).
Personally, I think if you are going to use an image, just use a
foreground image (with alt text). However, the text in their images is
rather small, so would adversely affect those with mild to moderate
visual impairments who require some 'zooming' without a full magnifier.
Not that using a background image helps, but you could turn off CSS and
get regular text.
It feels like a hack to me, but maybe I just need to think about it
more.
There are some legitimate reasons for hiding text. For example, at work
we tend to include some 'navigational headings', like putting a hidden
heading "menu" above the main navigation. It is implied visually, and in
testing we've found it helpful for screen readers.
If VO allows you to navigate by headings in the next version, that would
become very useful.
Kind regards,
-Alastair
