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Alt-Text & Link Rot — How Accessibility Features Benefit Everyone
en
!%postproc(xhtml): '(?i)(menu.jpg.*?alt=")' '\1Figure: Lunch menu showing prices of items. • Sushi bento — $12.00. • Vegan bento — $11.00. • Beef bento — $11.00. • Chirashi bento — $15.50.'
!%postproc(xhtml): '(?i)(abs_x-2_.svg.*?alt=")' '\1Figure: Graph of y = |x − 2|. The line is V-shaped with a slope of ±1. The point of the V is at (2, 0).'
!%postproc(xhtml): '(?i)(covid-safety.jpg.*?alt=")' '\1Northern Essex Community College COVID-19 Safety Measures'
!%postproc(xhtml): '(?i)(hip.jpg.*?alt=")' \1Image of fresh fruits and vegitables titled “Healthy Incentives Program” with the caption “Fresh. Canned. Dried. Frozen. It’s HIP to be healthy!”.'

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 garentue 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 nessecary information.

== Examples ==

=== Quiz question ===

Here is how this question is supposed to look like:

	[images/menu.jpg]
	
	Alice, Bob, and Carlos go to a resturaunt 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 less than Bob.
	What did each person order at the restuaraunt?

Unfortunately,
the link to the image no longer works,
leaving this question completely unanswerable:

	[menu.404]
	
	Alice, Bob, and Carlos go to a resturaunt 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 less than Bob.
	What did each person order at the restuaraunt?

If the person who made the quiz provided alt-text,
then the quiz would still be answerable
(albeit erroniously formated):

	[menu.jpg.404]
	
	Alice, Bob, and Carlos go to a resturaunt 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 less than Bob.
	What did each person order at the restuaraunt?

=== Graphs ===

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.

	[abs_x-2_.svg]
	
	Suppose we add the line ''<span class=".math">g(<var>x</var>) = |<var>x</var> − 2|</span>''.
	Where would this line intersect with ''<span class=".math">f(<var>x</var>)</span>''?
	
	--------------------
	
	[abs_x-2_.svg.404]
	
	Suppose we add the line ''<span class=".math">g(<var>x</var>) = |<var>x</var> − 2|</span>''.
	Where would this line intersect with ''<span class=".math">f(<var>x</var>)</span>''?

=== Images as links ===

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.

	[covid-safety.jpg]
	
	--------------------
	
	[covid-safety.404]
	
	--------------------
	
	[covid-safety.jpg.404]

=== Misc ==

Even if your images don’t contain critical information,
you still probably put them their for a reason.
It’d be nice if people still had an idea of the images if they don’t load.

	[hip.jpg]
	
	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 vegitables?
	
	--------------------
	
	[hip.404]
	
	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 vegitables?
	
	--------------------
	
	[hip.jpg.404]
	
	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 vegitables?