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Consider Informational Flags

In many cases, you don't need to click on a link to learn something. Simply moving your mouse over some links and images can cause an informational flag to pop up. This can help your readers decide whether they want to click on a particular link – in effect, giving them a preview of what they might find if they did click on it. Even better, it is relatively easy to create informational flags:

• Option 1: For newer browsers, use the TITLE attribute in your image tags and links.
• Option 2: For older browsers, use the ALT attribute in your image tags.

Figure 1: An informational flag that appears when moving a mouse cursor over an image

Links Page: Learn more about Web design on the Web Style Guidelines links page. Coding Primer: Learn how to create informational flags in links in Creating Links. Coding Primer: Learn how to create informational flags in images in Displaying Images.

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