le_gber - 5:08 pm on Sep 8, 2006 (gmt 0)

ridgway

but how in the world can you get enough info into the alt text to describe a picture

have a look at longdesc as an attribute for the img tag - modern screen readers support it.
Otherwise (for other browser - screen readers or not) some people recommend using a 'd' link before or after the image - link that leads to a wordier description.

re the alt="" and sidebars or other sub-graphical elements - use CSS and image backgrounds and you don't even need the alt="" :)

[edited by: le_gber at 5:10 pm (utc) on Sep. 8, 2006]