Different Practices Exist on The Web, Which Is The Right Way?

The World Wide Web Consortium requires all images and links in a web page to have an ALT attribute and TITLE attribute respectively. Making web pages Accessible and usable is an important part of the creation process. Overall, using ALT and TITLE attributes on everything eliminates almost all accessibility problems on many web pages. ALT and TITLE attributes also improve user experience and help assistive technology translate content for users with physical and sensory disabilities.

So far we’ve established two things: 1. It’s good to have ALT attributes and TITLE attributes defined in markup because 2. it helps improve the experience of all users when it comes to page content. But having the attributes tags in place is not enough on its own. What should web authors write in these tags? While the W3C publishes its recommendations for each, a variety of different practices are currently being practiced on the web.

The ALT Attribute for Images

The W3C states that alternate text is “for user agents that cannot display images, forms, or applets, this attribute specifies alternate text.” ALT attributes “let authors specify alternate text to serve as content when the element cannot be rendered normally.” This attribute can be inserted into IMG, AREA, and INPUT elements. In this article, we’ll focus on its use with IMG tags, possibly its most common use. If an image file cannot be displayed, at least users can see its ALT text. What kind of content should go into an image’s ALT attribute?

Good Practices

• Adding a caption describing the vital subject(s) of the image
• Adding the title of the image
• Adding an image citation / photo credit
• Keeping it short, choosing only essential words (using the LONGDESC attribute for longer descriptions)

Not So Good Practices

• Using the image’s file name
• Adding additional text that, by itself, does not describe the image accurately
• Adding empty quotes (except for elements like bullets - empty quotes are actually recommended by the W3C in cases like this)

The contents of an ALT attribute should NOT be a tooltip (even though IE displays it like this, which it shouldn’t). The text should be short (less than 100 words, as per WCAG 2.0). The text should also be relevant to the primary content so users may use it INSTEAD of the image and still gain the image’s value. In this case, it’s an accessibility thing rather than a usability thing.

The TITLE attribute for Links

The W3C states that a TITLE attribute is meant to offer “advisory information about the element for which it is set.” In short, the TITLE attribute should add additional information that compliments the linked text.

Good Practices

• Adding additional text or caption describing the link
• Adding a citation for the URL (link source, title of original article, author, all of these…)
• Keeping it somewhat short

Not So Good Practices

• Adding the exact text in the accompanying the link (this kind of a moot point since the title attribute essentially adds no new information in this case)
• Adding empty quotes
• Relying on plugins like Snap (these often rely on JavaScript and insert invalid markup into a web page. Some browsers don’t support them at all)

Content in the TITLE should add to the text inside the links, not just reiterate it. TITLE attributes should be more descriptive than ALT attributes, but not a paragraph (such as in LONGDESC attribute).

What Does It All Mean?

Alternate text is not meant to be used as a tool tip, or more specifically, to provide additional information about an image. The title attribute, on the other hand, is meant to provide additional information about an element…. Many people seem to confuse these two attributes…

It’s important for web designers and developers to know how to write good ALT and TITLE attributes. Practices like these should be employed into each web page element as it’s created. we should be including accessibility features when initially creating web pages rather than going back to add it later.
Personally, I am glad I did some research for this article. I’ll be the first to admit that I have not followed these guidelines 100%. I learned something and hope to learn more from reader comments.

TIG India

Wading into the fast-moving flow of social media can be daunting to a small business owner with very little time on his hands. Here's Inc.'s comprehensive social media cheat sheet for the time-strapped entrepreneur.

1. Offer a peek behind the scenes. Offering a sneak preview of new products, services, or features online can help build demand and provide critical feedback to help smooth the launch. For instance, John Doyle, founder of chocolate company John and Kira's in Philadelphia, posts photos of new products on Flickr and invites comments from customers.

2. Harness your expertise. Chances are your company's white paper won't go viral. But sharing knowledge you've gathered through your trade can go a long way toward boosting your brand. Ford Models, for instance, became a You-Tube sensation through a series of videos that featured its models giving beauty and fashion tips.

3. Demonstrate what your company does. Because multimedia is so integral to social media, getting connected allows you to express your company's value proposition beyond words. To show just how powerful his company's blenders were, Blendtec's head of marketing, George Wright, created a series of videos showing the appliances churning up such diverse items as a rotisserie chicken, a Rubik's Cube, and an iPhone. The series' 100 million combined views helped boost Blendtec's sales by 700 percent.

4. Put your website's content to work. Want to draw more traffic to your website? Help spread the word by encouraging visitors to share content they enjoy. Got Cast, a website that connects television casting directors with aspiring actors, draws new visitors by posting audition videos on Digg and allowing others to share video links on the site. One way to promote the sharing of your site's content is to install a widget, such as Add This, that automates linking to popular sites.

5. Be candid. In unsure economic times, transparency goes a long way toward retaining and attracting customers. Giving readers the scoop on your company blog is an easy way to keep the lines of communication open. Giacomo Guilizzoni, the founder of San Francisco software company Balsamiq, even posts sales and profit figures to show that his company is on solid financial footing.

6. But be careful what you say about others. When Leslie Richard, owner of a North Carolina clothing company, described Vision Media Television as a "scam," she was slapped with a $20 million lawsuit. While recounting negative experiences with others won't necessarily lead to a court battle, it's best to steer clear of name-calling.

7. Interact with visitors—really. Just putting up a blog or a Facebook fan page won't do much good if visitors sense the flow of conversation only goes one way. In fact, Matt Mullenweg, founder of blogging platform Wordpress, lists not participating in comments as a surefire way to kill a community. Mullenweg and his team field the many suggestions users have for Wordpress through his blog.

8. Don't try to create a stand-in for yourself. With all the other tasks required within your company, it's tempting to outsource managing your social media or even to try automating the process. That can easily backfire, as Joe Pulizzi, founder of Cleveland marketing firm Junta42, learned when he tried sending automated welcome messages to new followers on Twitter. His online contacts quickly called him out for sending out what they perceived to be spam.

9. Don't pretend to be someone else. Thanks to IP address tracking, observers can also quickly tell when company figureheads adopt fake identities for the sake of fluffing up their reputation. Not only can the practice hurt your company's reputation, it could also land you in legal trouble. The plastic surgery Lifestyle Lift had to pay $300,000 in settlement costs to the state of New York for having its employees post flattering reviews of the company without disclosing their affiliation.

10. Help employees bond. Corporations such as IBM have built in-house networks—even virtual worlds reminiscent of Second Life—to link employees working in different locations. Small and medium-sized businesses can take advantage of readily available tools to facilitate collaboration. The Hoffman Agency, a public relations firm, uses Ning, which enables users to build custom social networks, to connect its U.S. staff with employees in Europe and Asia.