A.3 Graphic markers

Table A-3 lists the marker types you can use for graphics. The T column contains an example of each graphic marker.

Table A-3 Special marker types for WAI graphic attributes

T	marker type	Purpose	HTML attribute	Valid content
_	GraphAlt	Brief text description of the graphic	alt	Any text
_	GraphLongdesc	Link to a file or Web page containing more information about the graphic	longdesc	File name or URL
_	GraphTitle	Text description of the graphic; use for browsers that do not support the longdesc attribute	title	Any text

GraphAlt is for a name or brief text description of the graphic, to identify the image for the visually impaired. Some browsers might display the alt text as a “tool tip”.

GraphLongdesc is for the name of a file, or URL of a Web page, that provides a longer description of the graphic than is afforded by GraphAlt.

GraphTitle is also for a longer description of the graphic; use this marker as an alternate to (or in addition to) the GraphLongdesc marker, for browsers that do not support the longdesc attribute. Some browsers might display the title text as a “tool tip”.

You should experiment to see how each of these attributes is rendered by the browsers you intend people to use.

You cannot insert a marker in a graphic itself, unless you include a text frame also. Place the markers anywhere before a graphic’s anchor; they will apply to the next graphic in the flow. Once used, the markers do not persist to affect any following graphics; in fact, the nature of these markers is such that they should never repeat exactly for two different graphics.

The graphic anchor for Figure A-1 is in a paragraph that follows the figure title. The figure title itself contains examples of the three Graph* markers, all inserted in the word “travel”.

Figure A-1 Primary travel method in near future

 

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