[uf-discuss] Re: Minimisation of figure

[Toby A Inkster]

Sarven Capadisli wrote:

> Hence, I propose:
>
> "If the "legend" class is found on the same element as the "image"
> class (or the image inferred by the previous rule), then the contents
> of the title attribute MUST be used as the legend." [1]
>
> should be changed from *title* to *alt*.

The reason for choosing @title over @alt for this purpose is two-fold:

1. The purpose of alternative text and legends differ. Alternative  
text is meant to be shown when the image cannot be shown -- for  
example, the resource is unavailable, image loading is disabled, or  
the browser is not capable of displaying the image format. The legend  
is meant to be visible alongside the image. Thus the semantics of  
@alt and legend differ.

2. The principles <http://microformats.org/wiki/principles> state  
"visible data is much better for humans than invisible metadata". For  
most people (using modern graphical browsers, with image loading  
enabled), @title is more visible than @alt, the former of which only  
needs a mouse-over to see the tool tip, whereas the latter requires  
view-source.

-- 
Toby A Inkster
<mailto:mail at tobyinkster.co.uk>
<http://tobyinkster.co.uk>