This behaviour is actually per HTML spec for the alt tag (to quote):
"alt = text [CS]
For user agents that cannot display images, forms, or applets, this
attribute specifies alternate text. The language of the alternate text
is specified by the lang attribute.
Several non-textual elements (IMG, AREA, APPLET, and INPUT) let
authors specify alternate text to serve as content when the element
cannot be rendered normally. Specifying alternate text assists users
without graphic display terminals, users whose browsers don't support
forms, visually impaired users, those who use speech synthesizers,
those who have configured their graphical user agents not to display
images, etc.
The alt attribute must be specified for the IMG and AREA elements. It
is optional for the INPUT and APPLET elements.
While alternate text may be very helpful, it must be handled with
care. Authors should observe the following guidelines:
* Do not specify irrelevant alternate text when including images
intended to format a page, for instance, alt="red ball" would be
inappropriate for an image that adds a red ball for decorating a
heading or paragraph. In such cases, the alternate text should be the
empty string (""). Authors are in any case advised to avoid using
images to format pages; style sheets should be used instead.
* Do not specify meaningless alternate text (e.g., "dummy text").
Not only will this frustrate users, it will slow down user agents that
must convert text to speech or braille output.
Implementors should consult the section on accessibility for
information about how to handle cases of omitted alternate text."
(
http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-html401-19991224/struct/objects.html#h-1
3.8 )
There is instead another tag which is intended to be used in the way
we've been trained by other browsers; the "title" tag:
"title = text [CS]
This attribute offers advisory information about the element for which
it is set.
Unlike the TITLE element, which provides information about an entire
document and may only appear once, the title attribute may annotate
any number of elements. Please consult an element's definition to
verify that it supports this attribute.
Values of the title attribute may be rendered by user agents in a
variety of ways. For instance, visual browsers frequently display the
title as a "tool tip" (a short message that appears when the pointing
device pauses over an object). Audio user agents may speak the title
information in a similar context. For example, setting the attribute
on a link allows user agents (visual and non-visual) to tell users
about the nature of the linked resource:
..some text...
Here's a photo of
<A href="http://someplace.com/neatstuff.gif"; title="Me scuba diving">
me scuba diving last summer
</A>
..some more text...
"
(
http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-html401-19991224/struct/global.html#adef
-title )
I had noticed this at first too... it's funny what we become
accustomed to and assume is "correct".
Jeff
On Thu, 3 Jan 2002 11:30:23, Victor Bien <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
> I'm not sure, but I think Alt text strings associated with images
> have stopped appearing.
>
> Victor Bien
>
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http://jamochamud.anecho.mb.ca
Or other stuff: http://www.anecho.mb.ca/~jeffnik
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![http://someplace.com/neatstuff.gif"](http://someplace.com/neatstuff.gif"){kind=link}