required attribute "alt" not specified.

[awallin]

When I write posts in wp (using the visual editor) and insert images into my posts I usually don't bother inserting an ALT text. AFAIK an empty ALT attribute should be valid XHTML.
However, I find that WP2.1 creates posts for me with _no_ ALT tag, and that results in a lot of errors when I do XHTML validation.
My site is at www.anderswallin.net if you want to try this.

[foolswisdom]

awallin, thank you for the detailed bug report!

Relates to #3100.

[awallin]

​#3100 mentios upload via the admin panel. The behaviour then seems to be that ALT is set to the filename.

I usually upload my images with a separate ftp client, and insert the pictures using the image icon of the visual editor. I type in the url of the image and click OK. This should set the ALT attribute to an empty string, and not leave out the ALT attribute altogether.

[Nazgul]

2.1.1 is out, so bumping the milestone to 2.1.2.

Should TinyMCE bugs be fixed here or reported upstream?

[cpoteet]

There is an image description box in the TinyMCE dialog box. It seems to be user error. You can't expect the machine to do everything for you :)

[rob1n]

But what if the user doesn't want to add in a description? IMO, TinyMCE should correct for this and use at least a blank alt="" attribute.

[JeremyVisser]

Replying to rob1n:

But what if the user doesn't want to add in a description? IMO, TinyMCE should correct for this and use at least a blank alt="" attribute.

+1 for that suggestion.

[markjaquith]

Reluctant +1

The point of the blank alt="" is to designate images that don't need alternative representation. Usually that means background images or images used to break up content. alt="" shouldn't act as a crutch for people who are too lazy to provide an alternative representation for their images. By doing this for them, we're validating their laziness by hiding the symptom. That said, WordPress should publish valid code out of the box. Let the accessibility validators ding them for all the blank alt=""

[westi]

I am also reluctant to support this from the accessibility point of view.

If it is to go in we need to push it upstream as it is a change to TinyMCE and if they will make the change then it will get pulled into the next version of WP as we update TinyMCE.

[Nazgul]

Replying to westi:

I am also reluctant to support this from the accessibility point of view.

An empty alt tag is better than none, because if there is no alt tag present, most screenreaders will speak the filename. That doesn't sound very accessible to me.

[cpoteet]

I think this is a TinyMCE issue and not a WP issue.

[azaozz]

TinyMCE 3 inserts empty alt if nothing is entered in the field.