Website Style Guide

Text as Images - Miscellaneous

Updated: 23rd July 2001

Why text in an image is bad:

• Can’t be scaled by the user
• Can’t be selected/copied/cut, etc.
• Can’t be seen when graphics are turned off
• Breaks W3C priority 1 guidelines for accessibility (if no alt statement provided)

Why text in an image is good:

• Better control of graphic impact (supports brand better)
• Style sheet can break the layout of a table – this isn’t an issue with an image
• Can be easier to update
• Can have timed deployment,
• Can queue images for eventual deployment
• Single trip to server (as opposed to multiple for sliced table)

Generally on sage.com, we should avoid an image composed purely in text. However, as in the What's Stopping You campaign, there are times when we need the content to strongly, clearly reinforce the brand. In other cases, the combination of text and multiple tiny images (curves, shims, etc.) to build a particular message/reinforce branding results in many objects and potentially additional trips to the server which can impact on download time. Ultimately, the goals are always twofold: maximum effectiveness (clarity, brand reinforcement) and usability (fastest download time, most universally accessible).

The decision of when to use images, when to use text and when to use text plus tiny images has to weigh all the above considerations.