Comments on: Best practices: keywords in alt attributes

By: Geese Control

Geese Control — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 21:54:16 +0000

Very good article. I always use both alt and titles, but to be honest I hate using title tags sometimes because I hate how it shows up when you hover the images. I wonder if there is a way to still put title tags, but hide it. I have that issue with flash as well. It’s very annoying to put flash title’s in because it shows you the title on hover of the flash. I don’t want that! Do you feel it’s necessary to do both? Obviously I agree if it’s a blank image, don’t put an alt, but for an image that actually has meaning.

By: Ava

Ava — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:27:03 +0000

“It’s all a question of information overload: practically speaking, if a web site uses images to convey information, a screen reader user can’t disable them without rendering the web site unusable. If the site also fills other images with extra text, the same user may be overwhelmed by an unnecessary volume of keyword phrases.”

Thanks for that information. As someone who believes (even at the cost of XHTML strict not validating because of “aria: required”) for the sake of screen readers, you’ve just enlightened me on why NOT to stuff images with keywords. I just found your site and have a wealth of information to sift through on accessibility. Thanks! I’m subscribing to your feeds!

By: avoorfareed

avoorfareed — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:05:32 +0000

the information that u say already heard in some way anyway thanks for your great information

By: G13 Media

G13 Media — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:46:42 +0000

Hey joe I read alot of your articles and was just curious do you know the difference between a alt and title tag for linking purposes of images? Which one you believe would be most beneficial. Thanks in Advance Joe you have a great blog.

By: herretoej

herretoej — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 13:35:33 +0000

I thought alt attributes will be useful for fetching hits from the search engine but after reading your post I need to rethink. Thanks a lot for sharing this useful information and I’ll inform my friends to follow it.

By: Iveck

Iveck — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:17:24 +0000

I know for a fact that naming your alt tags for internet marketers in general is only about search engine optimization. It is unfortunate, but any possible way to gain more leverage is going to be an incentive. I mean if doing your alt tags in this way will get you to the first page, and bump you up ahead of a guy that is a little more cautious about his alt tags then you are going to do it. In my designs I make sure to name things as they are, and use my keywords when applicable. But until this does not have a direct effect on rankings I don’t think the general public will be implementing the appropriate practices.

By: katlyn, ATT Uverse Reviews

katlyn, ATT Uverse Reviews — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 05:59:00 +0000

Very interesting article, thanks for the pointers. I love this post. Very informative..thanks. I never realized that having to much alt attribute could be considered key word stuffing.

By: Jill

Jill — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:37:44 +0000

Thanks for sharing with us such interesting article. Accesibility issues are absolutely important!

By: Joe Dolson

Joe Dolson — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 05:21:05 +0000

If the information is already communicated by other means, then the image doesn’t add value for the disabled; only for visual users, as an alternate way of communicating the information. However, if only part of the information has been communicated elsewhere, you still need to include the entirety of the information in the alt attribute, for the sake of context.

Also — thanks for the heads up! I missed that one when I stripped the tabindex attributes, clearly. Also, thanks for the suggestion on the comment subscription option.

By: dani

dani — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:58:37 +0000

Joe, if an image (e.g statistic table) is supplemental to content. But there are some texts in the content have already explained the statistic counts. What is the best for the alt attribute?

[OOT]:
a. Your tabindex is still exist in name input.
b. Should the “notify me …” line be placed before the submit button? Usability reason, I think.