Longdesc usage

This is an analysis of how the <img longdesc=""> attribute is used in the wild, based on the list of 62 pages which used the attribute, available at:

http://canvex.lazyilluminati.com/survey/2007-07-17/analyse.cgi/pages/tagattr/img/longdesc

The document list is included at the end of this page, numbered. When referring to pages, I just use their number.

Errors

• 42 and 52 were inaccessible (I got 0 bytes back using curl)
• 3, 10, 27, 31, and 46 were redirects; I did not check the pages their pointed to.
• 22, 35, and 37 no longer have the string "longdesc" in them.

Non-errors

A large number of the pages were from Wikipedia (or other MediaWiki installations): 1, 2, 6, 9, 11, 17, 19, 21, 24, 25, 29, 30, 36, 43, 45, 54, and 59. MediaWiki has a way of using longdesc particular to itself.

• 1 page used longdesc="" (5)
• 3 pages used longdesc="..." linking to an image of some description (41, 44, 56)
• 11 pages used longdesc="..." not as an URL, but as a human-readable description:
  • 3 of which used the same string as they used for alt text (7, 23, 53)
  • 1 of which used the same string as they did for title="" text (15)
  • 1 of which had no alt text (28)
  • 1 of which has an image with the text "Informing and Connecting people with Volunteering", the alt text "VDS Strapline 'Advancing the boundries and values of volunteering'", and the longdesc text "Changing the face of Volunteering in Scotland"
  • 1 of which is in Russian, which I don't understand (32)
  • 3 of which look like SEO attempts (13, 18, 48, 61)
  • 1 of which used URL-escaped text (49)
• 20 pages used longdesc="..." as an URL:
  • 11 of which point to a location the same as one pointed to with a link nearby (20, 33, 34, 38, 40, 47, 50, 55, 57, 58, 60)
  • 4 of which are broken links (4, 14, 26, 57)
  • 2 of which are valid links but seems not to comply with the spec (12, 39)
  • 2 of which is a correct use of the element (51, 62)
  • 1 of which seems to be better dealt with as a hyperlink rather than a longdesc attribute (8)

On 51, ironically, the only longdesc attribute is used on a link to an automated accessibility checker's website. 62 seems to serve up rather unhelpful text/plain one-liners as longdesc text.

Links list

1: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Borromini
2: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motivation
3: http://www.schirmer.com/composers/schoenberg_essay.html
4: http://www.huntingtonhousing.com
5: http://osierra.com
6: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%98%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%90%D1%80%D0%BC%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B8
7: http://www.norwalkoh.com/
8: http://www.domnowski.de/
9: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morscheid
10: http://www.eng.rpi.edu
11: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_in_Yemen
12: http://www.aclu-ia.org/
13: http://airbrush-tanning.us
14: http://www.pr-photography.org/
15: http://www.shakedown.fi/
16: http://www.vds.org.uk
17: http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voghiera
18: http://www.babylaundryboutique.com/
19: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A4nische_Sprache
20: http://www.coastal-fisherman.com/
21: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthemius_de_Tralles
22: http://www.hometown.aol.co.uk/thewoburnrally/
23: http://www.oblates.us/spiritual_directory.htm
24: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sint_Maarten_national_football_team
25: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Grove,_Iowa
26: http://www.integracomunicaciones.com/
27: http://www.bayern-evangelisch.de/
28: http://www.almaprnjavorac.com
29: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osage,_Iowa
30: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Menendez
31: http://weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/city/pages/qc-150_metric_e.html
32: http://www.paralife.narod.ru
33: http://www.jagdhof.com
34: http://www.austria-lustenau.at/
35: http://www.expressrealestateschool.com
36: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guckheim
37: http://www.vivian-cat.narod.ru/
38: http://www.svirp.dk/
39: http://www.francedirect.net
40: http://www.pointvue.com/cis/
41: http://www.arabicdancer.co.uk/
42: http://kepek.utcaigyorsulas.hu
43: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomatina
44: http://www.stopitnow.com/
45: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/THEOS
46: http://www.wirtschaft.fh-gelsenkirchen.de/
47: http://www.sannong.com
48: http://www.integrated-robotics.com
49: http://www.waveney.gov.uk/
50: http://www.libraryspot.com/
51: http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/aussieed/
52: http://www.webmeister.dk
53: http://www.magicdomico.com/
54: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azerbaiy%C3%A1n
55: http://www.puntoluce.tv/
56: http://www.bss-ev.de/
57: http://www.lowvillegolf.com/
58: http://www.brandunity.com/
59: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minos
60: http://www.cotondetulear.be/
61: http://www.granhotelguadalpinbanus.com
62: http://www.libertas-solutions.com