Alt Text

[R Duane]

I continue to learn the +'s and -'s of Xara Design Pro X11 as I transition from Microsoft's Expression Web v4.

My current dilemma is wrapping my mind around Xara's use of "Alt Text" as an image caption vice what I understand is its intended use. According to the WC3 Working Group: "Providing short text alternative for non-text content that serves the same purpose and presents the same information as the non-text content."

So here's the question; How do I include Alt Text in its core sense and not have it displayed as redundant text with a given image... or is this purpose simply archaic?

For those not familiar with Xara's Alt Text location: Web Properties > Image > Image Text (Alt Text).

Thanks and Happy New Year

[gwpriester]

Happy New Year. I'm not sure I understand your question. But my understanding of Alt text is to explain the content of a bitmap graphic or photo so that search engines will be able to respond to a search request. For example: left handed glass stretcher informs the search engine that the image is a left handed glass stretcher. If necessary I suppose one could embellish this a bit by adding chrome and black enamel left handed glass stretcher used with thin to medium width glass.

If you convert text to a bitmap by grouping the text, I believe Xara creates the alt text using the first part of the text.

[R Duane]

Gary,

Thanks for your quick reply. When I wrote the initial msg, it was late... and it now appears that I did not fully sort out the issue... which may explain your initial confusion.

In this case I'm working in a "presentation" and when previewed inside Xara and when the image is accessed as a "Pop-up photo" with the "Dim page" option checked, the image appears and the "Alt Text" also appears at the bottom. I DID NOT check the preview against the live version. When checking the "on-line" version... it all worked as advertised.

I have to remember that occasionally the preview is not WYSIWYG.

Again, thanks for your reply and words of wisdom.

[Egg Bramhill]

I have to remember that occasionally the preview is not WYSIWYG.

The Pop-up Title should appear top centre and the Alt Text should appear bottom centre in preview no problem.

[R Duane]

The Pop-up Title should appear top centre and the Alt Text should appear bottom centre in preview no problem.

Wellllll,

Another Xara mystery (at least to me) now out in the open. Thanks. My current site rebuild (MS Expression Web v4 converted to Xara X11 (35 pages) is finally reaching reality with the help of the community. A slow process but ... now just days away from Beta... I hope.

Again,

Thank you,

rdl

[pauland]

Alt text is to explain the content of a bitmap graphic or photo so that search engines will be able to respond to a search request.

It's also used by screenreaders for visually impaired users who have the page content read to them.

In the past (not sure if people do this these days) people could turn off graphics to have pages rendered only as text - mostly to support low-bandwidth internet links.

I have yet to meet anyone who turned of images in a web page.

The SEO implications followed on from the intended use of alt text rather than the other way around.