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area with alt attribute and img with null alt Screen reader compatibility

HTML
Sep 11, 2022

Expected Result: works in a screen reader

Actual Result: causes problems in 3 screen reader / browser combinations

Code used for this test:


		<img src='1234.png' alt='' usemap='#area_alt_map3'>
		<map id='area_alt_map3' name='area_alt_map3'>
		<area alt='this is left alt text' coords='0,0,100,100' href='left_arrow.htm' target='frame1'></area>
		<area alt='this is right alt text' coords='200,0,300,100' href='right_arrow.htm' target='frame1'></area>
		</map>

Reliability Trend

This graph shows reliability over time for this code in NVDA, JAWS and Voiceover. Other screen readers don't have enough historical data yet to plot trends.

100%80%60%40%20%0%201520162017201887%201993%2020100%2021100%2022100%

Change History

Last updated: September 11, 2022

  • Good NVDA with Chrome Stable - OK from NVDA 2018.4 to NVDA 2022.2
  • Bad NVDA with IE Causes problems in NVDA 2019.2
  • Good NVDA with FF Stable - OK from NVDA 2018.4 to NVDA 2022.2
  • Good JAWS with Chrome Stable - OK from JAWS 2018.1811.2 to JAWS 2022.2207.25
  • Good JAWS with IE Stable - OK from JAWS 2018.1811.2 to JAWS 2019.1912.1
  • Better JAWS with FF Better - caused problems in JAWS 2018.1811.2, but now OK in JAWS 2022.2207.25
  • Good VoiceOver macOS Stable - OK from VoiceOver macOS 10.13 to VoiceOver macOS 12.5
  • Good VoiceOver iOS Stable - OK from VoiceOver iOS 11.4 to VoiceOver iOS 15.6
Screen readerBrowserModeNotesWhat the user hears
OK NVDA 2022.2Chrome 105 Reading Link, this is left alt text, link, this is right alt text.
OK NVDA 2022.2Chrome 105 Tabbing This is left alt text, link. This is right alt text, link.
OK NVDA 2022.2FF102 Reading Graphic link, this is left alt text. Graphic link, this is right alt text.
OK NVDA 2022.2FF102 Tabbing This is left alt text, link graphic. This is right alt text, link graphic.
OK NVDA 2022.2Edge 105 Reading Link, this is left alt text, link, this is right alt text
OK NVDA 2022.2Edge 105 Tabbing This is left alt text, link. This is right alt text, link.
OK NVDA 2021.2Chrome 94 Reading Link, this is left alt text, link, this is right alt text.
OK NVDA 2021.2Chrome 94 Tabbing This is left alt text, link. This is right alt text, link.
OK NVDA 2021.2FF91 Reading Graphic link, this is left alt text. Graphic link, this is right alt text.
OK NVDA 2021.2FF91 Tabbing This is left alt text, link graphic. This is right alt text, link graphic.
OK NVDA 2021.2Edge 94 Reading Link, this is left alt text, link, this is right alt text
OK NVDA 2021.2Edge 94 Tabbing This is left alt text, link. This is right alt text, link.
OK NVDA 2020.2Chrome 86 Reading Link, this is left alt text, link, this is right alt text.
OK NVDA 2020.2Chrome 86 Tabbing This is left alt text, link. This is right alt text, link.
OK NVDA 2020.2FF78 Reading Graphic link, this is left alt text. Graphic link, this is right alt text.
OK NVDA 2020.2FF78 Tabbing This is left alt text, link graphic. This is right alt text, link graphic.
OK NVDA 2020.2Edge 92 Reading Link, this is left alt text, link, this is right alt text
OK NVDA 2020.2Edge 92 Tabbing This is left alt text, link. This is right alt text, link.
OK NVDA 2019.2Chrome 79 Reading Link, this is left alt text, link, this is right alt text.
OK NVDA 2019.2Chrome 79 Tabbing This is left alt text, link. This is right alt text, link.
OK NVDA 2019.2FF68 Reading Graphic link, this is left alt text. Graphic link, this is right alt text.
OK NVDA 2019.2FF68 Tabbing This is left alt text, link graphic. This is right alt text, link graphic.
OK NVDA 2019.2IE11 Reading Link, this is left alt text, link, this is right alt text
Fail NVDA 2019.2IE11 Tabbing Complete silence when tabbing between AREAs.
OK NVDA 2018.4Chrome 73 Reading Link, this is left alt text, link, this is right alt text.
OK NVDA 2018.4Chrome 73 Tabbing This is left alt text, link. This is right alt text, link.
OK NVDA 2018.4FF60 Reading Graphic link, this is left alt text. Graphic link, this is right alt text.
OK NVDA 2018.4FF60 Tabbing This is left alt text, link graphic. This is right alt text, link graphic.
OK NVDA 2018.4IE11 Reading Link, this is left alt text, link, this is right alt text
Fail NVDA 2018.4IE11 Tabbing Complete silence when tabbing between AREAs.
OK JAWS 2022.2207.25Chrome 105 Reading Image map link, this is left alt text. Image map link, this is right alt text.
OK JAWS 2022.2207.25Chrome 105 Tabbing This is left alt text, image map link. This is right alt text, image map link.
OK JAWS 2022.2207.25FF102 Reading Image map link graphic, this is left alt text. Image map link graphic, this is right alt text.
OK JAWS 2022.2207.25FF102 Tabbing Graphic, this is left alt text, image map link graphic. This is right alt text, image map link graphic.
OK JAWS 2022.2207.25Edge 105 Reading Image map link, this is left alt text. Image map link, this is right alt text.
OK JAWS 2022.2207.25Edge 105 Tabbing This is left alt text, image map link. This is right alt text, image map link
OK JAWS 2021.2107.12Chrome 94 Reading Image map link, this is left alt text. Image map link, this is right alt text.
OK JAWS 2021.2107.12Chrome 94 Tabbing This is left alt text, image map link. This is right alt text, image map link.
OK JAWS 2021.2107.12FF91 Reading Image map link graphic, this is left alt text. Image map link graphic, this is right alt text.
OK JAWS 2021.2107.12FF91 Tabbing Graphic, this is left alt text, link. This is right alt text, link.
OK JAWS 2021.2107.12Edge 94 Reading Image map link, this is left alt text. Image map link, this is right alt text.
OK JAWS 2021.2107.12Edge 94 Tabbing This is left alt text, image map link. This is right alt text, image map link
OK JAWS 2020.2008.24Chrome 86 Reading Image map link, this is left alt text. Image map link, this is right alt text.
OK JAWS 2020.2008.24Chrome 86 Tabbing This is left alt text, image map link. This is right alt text, image map link.
OK JAWS 2020.2008.24FF78 Reading Image map link graphic, this is left alt text. Image map link graphic, this is right alt text.
OK JAWS 2020.2008.24FF78 Tabbing Graphic, this is left alt text, image map link graphic. This is right alt text, image map link graphic.
OK JAWS 2020.2008.24Edge 92 Reading Image map link, this is left alt text. Image map link, this is right alt text.
OK JAWS 2020.2008.24Edge 92 Tabbing This is left alt text, image map link. This is right alt text, image map link
OK JAWS 2019.1912.1Chrome 79 Reading Image map link, this is left alt text. Image map link, this is right alt text.
OK JAWS 2019.1912.1Chrome 79 Tabbing This is left alt text, image map link. This is right alt text, image map link.
OK JAWS 2019.1912.1FF68 Reading Image map link graphic, this is left alt text. Image map link graphic, this is right alt text.
OK JAWS 2019.1912.1FF68 Tabbing Graphic, this is left alt text, image map link graphic. This is right alt text, image map link graphic.
OK JAWS 2019.1912.1IE11 Reading Image map link, this is left alt text. Image map link, this is right alt text.
OK JAWS 2019.1912.1IE11 Tabbing This is left alt text, image map link. This is right alt text, image map link
OK JAWS 2018.1811.2Chrome 73 Reading Image map link, this is left alt text. Image map link, this is right alt text.
OK JAWS 2018.1811.2Chrome 73 Tabbing Tab, this is left alt text, image map link. Tab, this is right alt text, image map link.
Fail JAWS 2018.1811.2FF60 Reading Alt ignored and link URL gibberish read out. Image map link graphic, left underline arrow. Image map link graphic, right underline arrow.
OK JAWS 2018.1811.2FF60 Tabbing Tab, graphic, this is left alt text, image map link graphic. Tab, this is right alt text, image map link graphic.
OK JAWS 2018.1811.2IE11 Reading Image map link, this is left alt text. Image map link, this is right alt text.
OK JAWS 2018.1811.2IE11 Tabbing Tab, this is left alt text, image map link. Tab, this is right alt text, image map link
OK VoiceOver macOS 12.5Safari 15.6 Reading Link, this is left alt text. Link, this is right alt text.
OK VoiceOver macOS 12.5Safari 15.6 Tabbing Link, this is left alt text. Link, this is right alt text.
OK VoiceOver macOS 11.5Safari 15.0 Reading Link, this is left alt text. Link, this is right alt text.
OK VoiceOver macOS 11.5Safari 15.0 Tabbing Link, this is left alt text. Link, this is right alt text.
OK VoiceOver macOS 10.15Safari 14.1 Reading Link, this is left alt text. Link, this is right alt text.
OK VoiceOver macOS 10.15Safari 14.1 Tabbing Link, this is left alt text. Link, this is right alt text.
OK VoiceOver macOS 10.14Safari 13.0 Reading Link, this is left alt text. Link, this is right alt text.
OK VoiceOver macOS 10.14Safari 13.0 Tabbing Link, this is left alt text. Link, this is right alt text.
OK VoiceOver macOS 10.13Safari 12.1 Reading Link, this is left alt text. Link, this is right alt text.
OK VoiceOver macOS 10.13Safari 12.1 Tabbing Link, this is left alt text. Link, this is right alt text.
OK VoiceOver iOS 15.6Safari iOS 15.6TouchLink role only announced when reading if owner IMG has null alt. This is left alt text, link. This is right alt text, link.
OK VoiceOver iOS 14.7Safari iOS 14.7TouchLink role only announced when reading if owner IMG has null alt. This is left alt text, link. This is right alt text, link.
OK VoiceOver iOS 13.3Safari iOS 13.3TouchLink role only announced when reading if owner IMG has null alt. This is left alt text, link. This is right alt text, link.
OK VoiceOver iOS 12.4Safari iOS 12.4TouchLink role only announced when reading if owner IMG has null alt. This is left alt text, link. This is right alt text, link.
OK VoiceOver iOS 11.4Safari iOS 11.4TouchLink role only announced when reading if owner IMG has null alt. This is left alt text, link. This is right alt text, link.

SortSite rules: AccHtmlAreaNoAlt

Test notes

All tests were carried out with screen reader factory settings. JAWS in particular has a wide variety of settings controlling exactly what gets spoken.

Screen readers allow users to interact in different modes, and can produce very different results in each mode. The modes used in these tests are:

  • Reading Content read using the “read next” command in a screen reader
  • Tabbing Content read using the “tab” key in a screen reader
  • Heading Content read using the “next heading” key in a screen reader
  • Touch Content read when touching an area of screen on a mobile device

In the “What the user hears” column:

  • Commas represent short pauses in screen reader voicing
  • Full Stops represent places where voicing stops, and the “read next” or “tab” or “next heading” command is pressed again
  • Ellipsis … represent a long pause in voicing
  • (Brackets) represent voicing that requires a keystroke to hear