[thelist] IMG vs IMAGE + screen reader output

[aardvark]

> From: kristina <ml at kfxdesign.net>
[...]
>   I've been dutifully adding the following to my
>   alt tags [IMG] - but then it occurred to me how
>   on earth does a screen reader read [IMG]?

erm, that's bad... alt attributes should either be descriptive of the
image, or if the image is used strictly for layout (such as a spacer),
they should be blank (not a space, just blank)...

>   I had (I admit) just abbreviated the word image
>   to IMG as I can see it is short for IMaGe?  But
>   then I thought well *stupid me* of course I can
>   'see' but does a screen reader see the same
>   thing or does it read out I-M-G!  which in
>   actual fact is V bad!

well, yeah, it certainly could...

>   As I don't have a screen reader to test this
>   with I was hoping that some other kindly soul on
>   thelist would be able to help me out.

download lynx, install it, surf... read your sites aloud... then
consider the impact of good alt attributes...

>   I expect I should change all iterations of IMG
>   to IMAGE....  What do y'all do?

if the image is:

1. content, then display an appropriate description... do not expect
this description to be what pops up in the 'tooltips', rely on the title
attribute for that...

2. strictly for layout, then leave alt blank -- alt="" is the best way to
go, especially over alt=" ", where a blank space helps no one and
just gets in the way (and can cause annoying tooltips as well)...


--
Read the evolt.org case study
Usability: The Site Speaks for Itself
http://amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1904151035/evoltorg02-20
ISBN: 1904151035