"Alt "in different language

[Luigi Donatello Asero]

Can I write a description of each photo on the webpage
https://www.scaiecat-spa-gigi.com/
in several language within "alt"?
Or should I use perhaps "longdesc"?
Or what else?


https://www.scaiecat-spa-gigi.com/

 

[Luigi Donatello Asero]

Can I write a description of each photo on the webpage
https://www.scaiecat-spa-gigi.com/
in several language within "alt"?

Sorry, "languages" of course.

 

[Jukka K. Korpela]

Can I write a description of each photo on the webpage
https://www.scaiecat-spa-gigi.com/
in several language within "alt"?

You can, but you should not. The main purpose of "alt" is
accessibility, and throwing some text in two languages at a user causes
problems to many. After all, there are _millions_ of people who only
know _one_ language!

To do their primary job well, "alt" texts should be as short as
possible (but not shorter).

Besides, the "alt" attribute should be a description, but a
replacement. In a photo gallery, it needs to serve mainly the secondary
function of identification. It by no means makes an image _caption_
unnecessary.

Or should I use perhaps "longdesc"?

No. It is an exercise in utility: no proven usefulness in practice, and
a questionable idea from the beginning.

Or what else?

Create versions of the page in different languages, using whatever
tools you find suitable.

 

[Richard Quick]

No. It is an exercise in utility: no proven usefulness in practice, and
a questionable idea from the beginning.

What's wrong with longdesc? They're extremely useful for images that
require more than a simple description to convey the important information.
For example maps.

 

[Luigi Donatello Asero]

You can, but you should not. The main purpose of "alt" is
accessibility, and throwing some text in two languages at a user causes
problems to many. After all, there are _millions_ of people who only
know _one_ language!



To do their primary job well, "alt" texts should be as short as
possible (but not shorter).

Besides, the "alt" attribute should be a description, but a
replacement. In a photo gallery, it needs to serve mainly the secondary
function of identification. It by no means makes an image _caption_
unnecessary.


No. It is an exercise in utility: no proven usefulness in practice, and
a questionable idea from the beginning.


Create versions of the page in different languages, using whatever
tools you find suitable.

Well, actually, I did not formulate the question in a proper way.
When I asked whether I could write the text in different languages, I meant
the text on the homepage which relates to the pictures which are shown on
it.
On the one hand I find it good to insert pictures on the first page because
it can make the homepage more attractive, on the other hand, the problem is
how to make it understandable to all of users.
Otherwise I should change the look of all the introduction pages which
follow such as https://www.scaiecat-spa-gigi.com/sv/välkommen.php
https://www.scaiecat-spa-gigi.com/de/willkommen.php
https://www.scaiecat-spa-gigi.com/en/welcome.php
https://www.scaiecat-spa-gigi.com/it/benvenuti.php
and so on and put the pictures which are on
https://www.scaiecat-spa-gigi.com/index.html there too.

 

[Luigi Donatello Asero]

What's wrong with longdesc? They're extremely useful for images that
require more than a simple description to convey the important information.
For example maps.

Yes, they are probably but can they be used for the use of multiple
languages describing images on the homepage?

 

[Andy Dingley]

What's wrong with longdesc?

The first thing to note with longdesc is that it isn't a string, it's a
URI - a reference to another location where you can put a longer string
(or indeed a whole web page). Although it's common to put a few paras
of text into the longdesc attribute, that's just plain wrong.

Secondly, these uri-referenced description schemes ("d links" are
similar) have the problem that the break any useful linkage between the
object and its description. If the description page is indexed, the
target URI for this is then that of the description, not the object
itself (so only put one description on each page, and give a good
backward link to the real target).

 

[Toby Inkster]

[longdesc] is an exercise in utility: no proven usefulness in practice,
and a questionable idea from the beginning.

Assuming "utility" should read "futility".

What's wrong with longdesc?

Perhaps the fact that it has next to zero actual browser support?