Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Reference

Name

ALT — NN 3 IE 3 HTML 3.2

Synopsis

ALT=”textMessage"

Optional

If a browser does not have the facilities to load and run Java applets or if the browser has Java support turned off in its preferences, the text assigned to the ALT attribute is supposed to display in the document where the APPLET element’s tag appears. Typically, this text provides advice on what the page visitor is missing by not being able to load the Java applet. Unlike the NOSCRIPT or NOFRAMES elements, there is no corresponding element for an absent Java applet capability. In practice, browsers don’t necessarily display this message for applets that fail to load for a variety of reasons.

In the event that this feature should work better in the future, use the ALT attribute with care. If the applet is not a critical part of your page’s content, you may just want the rest of the page to load without calling attention to the missing applet in less-capable browsers. The alternate message may be more disturbing to the user than a missing applet.

Example

<APPLET CODE="simpleClock.class" NAME="myClock" ALIGN=ABSMIDDLE 
ALT="A Java clock applet." WIDTH=400 HEIGHT=50></APPLET>

Value

Any quoted string of characters.

Default

None.