Recently a colleague of mine and I were analysing a site for a fortune 500 company. My colleague was surprised to find that every graphic, which was marketing this company's services, had ALT statements that said "click here for more information" or "Click here to find out more".

The ALT statement is an element that is meant to be included in the HTML code for giving an explanation ALTernative to seeing the image. Early on when users were connecting to the Internet with slow connections or "text only" web browsers much of the images of a page would not appear. Without the ALT statement users would see an ugly file name, or worse, a red X in place of the image. Obviously, a big X for a logo is not good for corporate branding.

Over time, users started to log on to the Internet with faster machines and speedier modems. Sites also became more sophisticated with better technology to serve images faster and more efficiently to the user. Corporations began to feel more comfortable that their corporate image would be in tact when a user visited their web page.

In 1997 the ALT statement evolved. Microsoft and Netscape were deep in the browser wars. The two companies were coming out with a new version of their browser every 6 months. Each version had new features that made their browser more desirable. The smoke settled and Microsoft was on top. One of the numerous features that Microsoft created was a "tool tip" type ALT statement functionality. "Tool tip" functionality puts a yellow box with words from the ALT statement next to the cursor when it is pointing on an image. This functionality was handy because more verbose information could be stated for graphical elements on a page without affecting the layout of the page. Web developers were using the ALT statement to inform users about links so the user could more efficiently navigate the site without going somewhere mistakenly.

This use of the ALT tag is good for the accessibility community. Not only can it explain the graphic but also creates greater understanding of the items that make up the page.

So how is it that we have come to a point where large corporate web sites do not put description information inside the ALT statements? They must be aware "click here" does nothing to elucidate to the user who depends on ALTs for their web experience.

Much of the Web's marketing technique has evolved from a discipline in the Direct Marketing industry called "Goal Directed Marketing". "Goal Directed Marketing" concerns itself with explicitly telling the customer what they should do. Ever wonder why in a commercial or on a piece of junk mail it says "act now", "call today", or "just call 1-800-555-4444." This use of language is directing you to an explicit goal, otherwise known as a "call to action."

I remember my first week working as the Creative Director of an Internet Marketing firm after coming from the technical industry. I would bring samples of banner ads that my staff made to the account reps. Every time they would ask me, but where is the "call to action?" "What do you mean a 'call to action' who needs that? It's a banner ad, of course you click it!", I would say defiantly thinking that marketers believed consumers all to be a bunch of idiots. Time and time again the banners that stated, "click here now" performed better then the ones that had no "call to action." Eventually, I conceded that the marketers were right; direction was needed for the customer.

For some web developers, the ALT statement has become the method to direct the user to a 'call to action'. This type of use of the ALT statement is detrimental to the accessibility community who needs the ALT to explain the purpose of the graphic on the page. It is easy to imagine how frustrating it is for a user with a Screen Reader who comes to graphic on a web page only to hear the mono tone voice saying 'click here' with no additional information. Unable to see (or hear) what the graphic actually says, the 'click here' adds nothing to the user experience.

So this is a battle of the Titans: Accessibility on the one side, Marketers on the other. Is there a resolution, can we all be happy? The answer relies on the talent of the marketers, good copywriting and creative solutions. The ALT statement can hold a lot of information. It also has some formatting ability, which gives the developer some lead way on how the text will display. The ALT can be verbose while still having the 'call to action' stand out, which is the primary marketing concern. Also, the more verbose the ALT is the better it can be for your marking initiatives. Search Engine Optimization (I will write more on this next month), customer education, not to mention Access'to the Accessibility market population are but a few advantages that can come from better ALT statement copywriting.

So improve those 'click here!'s, elucidate, educate and extend your marketing to a new population.