Images in Settings > Discussion > Default Avatar have empty alt attributes

[henry.wright]

Here's a copy of one of the <img> elements:

<img alt="" src="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/0da2f1a9340d3aa196b870f2c107a248?s=32&amp;d=wavatar&amp;r=g&amp;forcedefault=1" srcset="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/0da2f1a9340d3aa196b870f2c107a248?s=64&amp;d=wavatar&amp;r=g&amp;forcedefault=1 2x" class="avatar avatar-32 photo" height="32" width="32">

[swissspidy]

Personally I don't see a problem here. Empty alt attributes are totally valid when the image is only for presentational reasons and doesn't contain any important additional information.

In this case, screen readers would read aloud "Mystery Person", "Blank", "Mystery Man", etc. which is exactly what we want here.

[henry.wright]

Attached is a patch to add text to the alt attribute, should you decide it's worth doing.

[henry.wright]

@swissspidy for the record, I'm leaning towards agreeing with you. Considering the images are already described by the surrounding text, screen readers will already have the info they need. Implementing my patch might even clutter the audio (the text could be read aloud twice).

[afercia]

Replying to henry.wright:

the text could be read aloud twice

Yep, I agree :) @henry.wright do you agree we can close the ticket?

[henry.wright]

Yes, please go ahead and close.