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      Alt-Text & Link Rot — How Accessibility Features Benefit Everyone
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      <h1>
        Alt-Text & Link Rot — How Accessibility Features Benefit Everyone
      </h1>
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      <p>
        Links rot. It’s unfortunate, but it’s just a part of the web. Content disappears and links rot; if you don’t host your own images, then you can’t guarantee that your images will always appear. In this situation, alt-text can be the difference between your piece still making sense and it being completely useless. This is because many browsers show the alt-text with the missing image icon, so descriptive alt-text can make sure your audience still gets the necessary information.
      </p>
      <h2>
        Examples
      </h2>
      <h3>
        Quiz question
      </h3>
      <p>
        Here is how this question is supposed to look like:
      </p>
      <blockquote>
        <img class="center" src="menu.jpg" alt="Figure: Lunch menu showing prices of items. • Sushi bento — $12.00. • Vegan bento — $11.00. • Beef bento — $11.00. • Chirashi bento — $15.50.">
      </blockquote>
      <blockquote>
        Alice, Bob, and Carlos go to a restaurant and pay a total of $38.50. Bob does not eat beef. Alice payed less than Carlos, Carlos payed more than Bob, and Alice payed more than Bob. What did each person order at the restaurant?
      </blockquote>
      <p>
        Unfortunately, the link to the image no longer works, leaving this question completely unanswerable:
      </p>
      <blockquote>
        <img class="center" src="menu.png">
      </blockquote>
      <blockquote>
        Alice, Bob, and Carlos go to a restaurant and pay a total of $38.50. Bob does not eat beef. Alice payed less than Carlos, Carlos payed more than Bob, and Alice payed more than Bob. What did each person order at the restaurant?
      </blockquote>
      <p>
        If the person who made the quiz provided alt-text, then the quiz would still be answerable (albeit erroneously formated):
      </p>
      <blockquote>
        <img class="center" src="menu.jpg.png" alt="Figure: Lunch menu showing prices of items. • Sushi bento — $12.00. • Vegan bento — $11.00. • Beef bento — $11.00. • Chirashi bento — $15.50.">
      </blockquote>
      <blockquote>
        Alice, Bob, and Carlos go to a restaurant and pay a total of $38.50. Bob does not eat beef. Alice payed less than Carlos, Carlos payed more than Bob, and Alice payed nore than Bob. What did each person order at the restaurant?
      </blockquote>
      <h3>
        Graphs
      </h3>
      <p>
        Math can be nearly impossible sometimes without graphing. Imagine if you prepared a document with graphs but didn’t include alt-text! Here are some examples of how graphs can be understood through alt-text.
      </p>
      <blockquote>
        <img class="center" src="abs_x-2_.svg" alt="Figure: Graph of y equals the absolute value of x-minus-two. The line is V-shaped with a slope of plus-or-minus 1. The point of the V is at x equals 2 y equals 0.">
      </blockquote>
      <blockquote>
        Suppose we add the line <span class=".math">g(<var>x</var>) = |<var>x</var>&nbsp;−&nbsp;2|</span>. Where would this line intersect with <span class=".math">f(<var>x</var>)</span>?
      </blockquote>
      <blockquote>
        <hr class="light">
      </blockquote>
      <blockquote>
        <img class="center" src="abs_x02_.png" alt="Figure: Graph of y = |x − 2|. The line is V-shaped with a slope of ±1. The point of the V is at (2, 0).">
      </blockquote>
      <blockquote>
        Suppose we add the line <span class=".math">g(<var>x</var>) = |<var>x</var>&nbsp;−&nbsp;2|</span>. Where would this line intersect with <span class=".math">f(<var>x</var>)</span>?
      </blockquote>
	<hr class="light">
      <blockquote>
        <img class="center" src="abs_x02_.png">
      </blockquote>
      <blockquote>
        Suppose we add the line <span class=".math">g(<var>x</var>) = |<var>x</var>&nbsp;−&nbsp;2|</span>. Where would this line intersect with <span class=".math">f(<var>x</var>)</span>?
      </blockquote>
      <h3>
        Images as links
      </h3>
      <p>
        If you use images as links, then not using alt-text means they’re completely unreadable if the image fails to load or if a user relies on a screenreader.
      </p>
      <blockquote>
        <img class="center" src="covid-safety.jpg" alt="Northern Essex Community College COVID-19 Safety Measures">
      </blockquote>
      <blockquote>
        <hr class="light">
      </blockquote>
      <blockquote>
        <img class="center" src="covid-safety.png">
      </blockquote>
      <blockquote>
        <hr class="light">
      </blockquote>
      <blockquote>
        <img class="center" src="covid-safety.jpg.png" alt="Northern Essex Community College COVID-19 Safety Measures">
      </blockquote>
      <h3>
        General
      </h3>
      <p>
        Even if your images don’t contain critical information, you still probably put them there for a reason. It’d be nice if people still had an idea of the images if they don’t load.
      </p>
      <blockquote>
        <img class="center" src="hip.jpg" alt="Image of fresh fruits and vegetables titled “Healthy Incentives Program” with the caption “Fresh. Canned. Dried. Frozen. It’s HIP to be healthy!”.">
      </blockquote>
      <blockquote>
        Did you know that Massachusetts residents who qualify for food stamps (SNAP) can get an additional $40 per person per household each month to spend on fresh fruits and vegetables?
      </blockquote>
      <blockquote>
        <hr class="light">
      </blockquote>
      <blockquote>
        <img class="center" src="hip.png">
      </blockquote>
      <blockquote>
        Did you know that Massachusetts residents who qualify for food stamps (SNAP) can get an additional $40 per person per household each month to spend on fresh fruits and vegetables?
      </blockquote>
      <blockquote>
        <hr class="light">
      </blockquote>
      <blockquote>
        <img class="center" src="hip.jpg.png" alt="Image of fresh fruits and vegetables titled “Healthy Incentives Program” with the caption “Fresh. Canned. Dried. Frozen. It’s HIP to be healthy!”.">
      </blockquote>
      <blockquote>
        Did you know that Massachusetts residents who qualify for food stamps (SNAP) can get an additional $40 per person per household each month to spend on fresh fruits and vegetables?
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          Š&nbsp;DJ Chase 2023-02-28. Licensed under the Academic Free License (AFL&nbsp;3.0).
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