[html4all] 5 gears in reverse - anne v k enters the alt attribute debate

[Leif Halvard Silli]

On 2007-09-21 13:37:26 +0200 "Steven Faulkner" 
<faulkner.steve at gmail.com> wrote:

> http://annevankesteren.nl/2007/09/alt
> Anne has done a post on the alt attribute

[... the real use case motivation for omitting alt: ...]
> namely where an author does not *find it necessary* to make the
> images accessible.
> 
> He also misrepresents the meaning of alt="" :
> 
> "it tells the user agent that the image means *nothing*. Nothing at 
> all."
> 
> when it can mean
> a. the image has no meaning (e.g. spacer gif)
> b. is decorative
> c. has meaning, but the meaning is provided by text elsewhere in the
> content.

Right on - removing the obligation to use ALT would, as Anne 
unpurposedly demonstrate, not clarify what ALT="" means. Like you 
hinted on Public HTML: for an author, it would eventually be easier to 
distinguish between

	alt=" "  [space as alt-value]
	alt=""   [empty alt attribute]

than it would be to _understand_ and actually _work with_ the 
difference of

	         [no-alt-at-all]
	alt=""   [empty alt attribute]

Telling the difference between zero and 0 is difficult for everyone.
-- 
leif halvard silli