Confusing default text when no alt text is provided

[dajoturner]

Len Burns reported this issue. Basically, our alt tag over-ride language is confusing. I'm setting this as Critical, and assigning to Teresa to evaluate what this would take. And would we need to change the code for the default and also retroactively change the existing images, or is that the same thing? Pending that, we'll probably want to switch this to Could Wait.

See: http://admissions-dev.ucsc.edu/campus-life/index.html Len's text: The “No image alternative provided” leaves the user without a means of knowing that the caption below it is associated with this photograph. I would suggest something like: “Photo, caption follows.”

[knice]

I've modified the format for this area so that it prints the following alt text:

• If there is alt text, it uses that.
• If there is a caption, the alt text is: "Banner photo, caption follows."
• If there is no caption or alt text, the alt text is: "Banner photo with no alternative text."

This is on DEV now, you can test the different cases on the page linked above.

[teresasilva71]

Sorry if I'm lame here but what is the instance where there isn't alt text? The system MAKES you enter alt text. You can't save your page unless you put it in there. Is this mostly a fix for those sites that launched PRIOR to that requirement? If so, I like your suggestions but I'd LOVE to be able to find a way to notify sites about their missing alt text so they can go back and add it in....in unicorn land, right? IS there a quick and dirty way to make it so that the NEXT time a page is edited w/o alt text, they would THEN be req'd to enter it? AND, sorry to complicate things BUT is this conditional making it so the WCMS thinks there IS alt text? Make sense?

[knice]

In DEV, the banner image did not require alt text be entered. I was able to save the page without it.

[teresasilva71]

Yeah, according to Leslie, we've never req'd alt text for banners, list pages, lead images on news articles, etc. This means there are a LOT of images w/o alt text. Your conditional formatting is great for these. That said, the language would need to be different than "banner photo....as there are other images (not banner) that could use these. Make sense?

[teresasilva71]

OR is this conditional formatting ONLY for banner images.

[knice]

This condition is for banners only, so it only affects banner images. My code is in a format specific to banners.

[teresasilva71]

Got it. Not sure how you'd like me to test this tho?....

[knice]

If you shuffle the caption text between the caption field, the image alt field and remove it altogether and then look at the published versions, the alt text changes for each condition.

I tested and verified it, so you can not test it and say you did, if you want. I won't tell anyone.

[teresasilva71]

Awesome. That was fun testing. Thanks! I won't tell anyone either.

[teresasilva71]

Do we want to schedule a time in the future when we'll care that all of the images on the other types of pages DON'T have alt text? Do you want to pretend I didn't say that?

[knice]

Pretending you didn't say that.

[dajoturner]

Setting this to "Pretending we didn't say any of this" and closing.