Sent by The Moose on 29 November 2003 21:09
IAN:
> Just as a note, the correct attribute to use for image captions is the
> "title" attribute. The "alt" attribute is meant for an alternative
> rendering of the image in case images are unavailable.
Yes. My ALT serves exactly as alternative text, i.e. I have not abused it.
> For example,
>
> <img src="../../image/photos/n-tiny.jpg" width="300" height="131"
> title="Nevcyrská Valley"
> alt="Jagged mountains framing a valley are obscured by heavy
> fog.">
>
> (Note that it is not a description -- there is no reference to the fact
> that it is a photo -- it just conveys the same meaning as the photo, but
> in textual form.)
We have three ways to add a description to the image without resorting to
adding text outside the image:
1. ALT
2. TITLE
3. LONGDESC
Ad 1. I have browsed my own site once with images off, and noticed that
only that portion of ALT text is displayed which fits into the dimensions
of the image placeholder. That means ALT must be short. In the technique I
presented, ALT is a two-word sequence. It says exactly what is on the
image in a succinct way. This is exactly why I used generated content to
extract it and position it over the image. Usability and space constraint.
Ad 2. A title is a relatively short description of the image. What you
propose above as a 10-word ALT text would fit better into a title. I could
have left ALT as it is (Nevcyrska' Valley), and added "Jagged mountains
framing a valley are obscured by heavy fog." as a title, and the extract
it via generated content. This would never fit into a succinct caption to
be positioned over the image, although it would be good enough for a
title. I could have used: "Nevcyrska Valley" as a title, but then I would
have foregone the descriptive possibilities of TITLE attribute.
Ad 3. A long description is the best place for a comprehensive
description. I am not aware of support for longdesc. Once I went around
this in my own moosely way [1] because I am fond of Pareto improvements -
if I can't better a situation for everyone, I will settle for an
improvement for a strict subset of the audience. Longdesc is not fit for a
caption that is displayed concurrently with the image content.
In summary, although a title would be best theoretically for a caption, in
the particular application I tackled, ALT is best suited for a two-word
caption that wouldn't destroy the readability of the text and the beauty
of images. Please note that the markup only contains a proper ALT.
CSS generated content adds functionality that doesn't mess with the markup.
Wojtek
[1]
http://www.literarymoose.info/=/article/conquistadors3.html#long-description
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