{"id":5673,"date":"2019-03-18T11:49:24","date_gmt":"2019-03-18T15:49:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.swarthmore.edu\/its\/?p=5673"},"modified":"2019-03-25T16:24:15","modified_gmt":"2019-03-25T20:24:15","slug":"turn-web-images-off-can-you-still-figure-out-what-is-going-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.swarthmore.edu\/its\/2019\/03\/18\/turn-web-images-off-can-you-still-figure-out-what-is-going-on\/","title":{"rendered":"Turn web images off – can you still figure out what is going on?"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Swarthmore’s Technology Accessibility Coordinator, part of my work involves testing websites to see what kinds of barriers exist to accessing content online.<\/p>\n

I often run into sites which use images for navigation, tasks, and information.\u00a0 I’m always curious to discover what might happen if I turn images off – can I still get around the site?\u00a0 Is the text in the banner or main image still discernible? Can I still figure out what is the site is about when there are no images?<\/p>\n

Examples<\/h2>\n

The descriptive text of the image in the top column of the table below is “[Image – Banner”].\u00a0 However there is quite a bit more information being conveyed by the image.\u00a0 A better descriptive text repeats the essential information being conveyed by a picture of text.\u00a0 In this case the alt text might be “31st Annual CLAC Conference being held June 17-19, 2019.\u00a0 Hosted by Bryn Mawr, Haverford and Swarthmore Colleges also known as Tri-Co – Stronger together”.\u00a0 The existing alt text for this image, “Image- Banner”, implies that the image is a decorative image.\u00a0 Anyone with a visual impairment would completely miss the important information contained in the image.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Descriptive text that is not meaningful<\/caption>\n
Images off<\/th>\n\"website<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
With Images<\/th>\n\"All<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

In the images shown below the one on the top has a better description of the image.\u00a0 It states “Students perform Bald Soprano on stage” – it gives the listener an idea of what is happening in the image and it is a complement to the title “The Show Must Go On and On and On…”<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Example of Good Descriptive Text<\/caption>\n
Images off<\/th>\n\"Example<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
With Images<\/th>\n\"This<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

Testing by turning images off<\/h2>\n

Here are a couple of ways I turn off images in different applications.<\/p>\n

Chrome<\/h3>\n