[whatwg] Allow alt attribute with the span element

[Michael A. Peters]

With images, the alt attribute can and should be used to give a
description of an image for users who can not see the image.

With text, some glyphs are pictographs that have a meaning. For example,
U+1F502 is a pictograph indicating single loop, but it is meaningless if
you can not see it.

Even if screen readers can specify the codepoint and/or map the
codepoint to a description (do they?) sometimes fonts define PUA
codepoints for pictograph glyphs that are not official.

A span element with a title attribute does not always solve this
problem, sometimes the glyph is in a button element that has a title
attribute describing what the button will do rather than the what the
current state is.

For example, a button may show a single loop indicating the media is
currently in single loop mode but have a title attribute specifying that
pressing it enables continuous loop mode.

If there was an alt attribute on a span inside the button, screen
readers could treat the span with a pictograph the same way it would
treat an image child of a button attribute and describe the current
pictograph to the end user.

If there is already a solution to this issue, I apologize, I could not
find one.

We (er, WhatWG / W3C) could just add alt to the global attribute list
too, rather than just span. Or come up with a semantic pictograph
element specifically for this (just like we have tt and code).

Thank you for opinions.

[Jonathan Garbee]

Is there a problem with using aria-label
<https://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria/states_and_properties#aria-label> for this
use case? It seems like this should do exactly what you're asking for in
the given scenario.

Post by Michael A. Peters
With images, the alt attribute can and should be used to give a
description of an image for users who can not see the image.
With text, some glyphs are pictographs that have a meaning. For example,
U+1F502 is a pictograph indicating single loop, but it is meaningless if
you can not see it.
Even if screen readers can specify the codepoint and/or map the codepoint
to a description (do they?) sometimes fonts define PUA codepoints for
pictograph glyphs that are not official.
A span element with a title attribute does not always solve this problem,
sometimes the glyph is in a button element that has a title attribute
describing what the button will do rather than the what the current state
is.
For example, a button may show a single loop indicating the media is
currently in single loop mode but have a title attribute specifying that
pressing it enables continuous loop mode.
If there was an alt attribute on a span inside the button, screen readers
could treat the span with a pictograph the same way it would treat an image
child of a button attribute and describe the current pictograph to the end
user.
If there is already a solution to this issue, I apologize, I could not
find one.
We (er, WhatWG / W3C) could just add alt to the global attribute list too,
rather than just span. Or come up with a semantic pictograph element
specifically for this (just like we have tt and code).
Thank you for opinions.

[Michael A. Peters]

Nope, no problem at all. That looks like a simple solution I did not
find. Thank you.

Post by Jonathan Garbee
Is there a problem with using aria-label
<https://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria/states_and_properties#aria-label> for
this use case? It seems like this should do exactly what you're asking
for in the given scenario.
On Fri, Oct 6, 2017 at 11:15 AM, Michael A. Peters
With images, the alt attribute can and should be used to give a
description of an image for users who can not see the image.
With text, some glyphs are pictographs that have a meaning. For
example, U+1F502 is a pictograph indicating single loop, but it is
meaningless if you can not see it.
Even if screen readers can specify the codepoint and/or map the
codepoint to a description (do they?) sometimes fonts define PUA
codepoints for pictograph glyphs that are not official.
A span element with a title attribute does not always solve this
problem, sometimes the glyph is in a button element that has a title
attribute describing what the button will do rather than the what
the current state is.
For example, a button may show a single loop indicating the media is
currently in single loop mode but have a title attribute specifying
that pressing it enables continuous loop mode.
If there was an alt attribute on a span inside the button, screen
readers could treat the span with a pictograph the same way it would
treat an image child of a button attribute and describe the current
pictograph to the end user.
If there is already a solution to this issue, I apologize, I could
not find one.
We (er, WhatWG / W3C) could just add alt to the global attribute
list too, rather than just span. Or come up with a semantic
pictograph element specifically for this (just like we have tt and
code).
Thank you for opinions.

[Michael A. Peters]

Post by Michael A. Peters
Nope, no problem at all. That looks like a simple solution I did not
find. Thank you.

Note that you need to provide an explicit role on the span if you use
aria-label to provide its accessible name.

I assume if I instead put the aria-label on the button rather than span
that contains the pictograph, that would work too without needing a role
since it is an actual button.