Add formal support for alt text to IPython.display.Image.

For accessibility reasons users should be encouraged to add useful alt
text to images. Currently there is no recommended way to do this using
the standard Image object. Adding this field is a step towards getting
a common way for notebook renderers to support alt text and towards
encouraging libraries creating images to add meaningful alt text.

IPython/core/display.py

@@ -6,6 +6,7 b''
 
 
 from binascii import b2a_base64, hexlify
+import html
 import json
 import mimetypes
 import os
@@ -802,7 +803,7 b' class Image(DisplayObject):'
 
     def __init__(self, data=None, url=None, filename=None, format=None,
                  embed=None, width=None, height=None, retina=False,
-                 unconfined=False, metadata=None):
+                 unconfined=False, metadata=None, alt=None):
         """Create a PNG/JPEG/GIF image object given raw data.
 
         When this object is returned by an input cell or passed to the
@@ -847,6 +848,8 b' class Image(DisplayObject):'
             Set unconfined=True to disable max-width confinement of the image.
         metadata : dict
             Specify extra metadata to attach to the image.
+        alt : unicode
+            Alternative text for the image, for use by screen readers.
 
         Examples
         --------
@@ -924,6 +927,7 b' class Image(DisplayObject):'
         self.height = height
         self.retina = retina
         self.unconfined = unconfined
+        self.alt = alt
         super(Image, self).__init__(data=data, url=url, filename=filename,
                 metadata=metadata)
 
@@ -933,6 +937,9 b' class Image(DisplayObject):'
         if self.height is None and self.metadata.get('height', {}):
             self.height = metadata['height']
 
+        if self.alt is None and self.metadata.get('alt', {}):
+            self.alt = metadata['alt']
+
         if retina:
             self._retina_shape()
 
@@ -962,18 +969,21 b' class Image(DisplayObject):'
 
     def _repr_html_(self):
         if not self.embed:
-            width = height = klass = ''
+            width = height = klass = alt = ''
             if self.width:
                 width = ' width="%d"' % self.width
             if self.height:
                 height = ' height="%d"' % self.height
             if self.unconfined:
                 klass = ' class="unconfined"'
-            return u'<img src="{url}"{width}{height}{klass}/>'.format(
+            if self.alt:
+                alt = ' alt="%s"' % html.escape(self.alt)
+            return u'<img src="{url}"{width}{height}{klass}{alt}/>'.format(
                 url=self.url,
                 width=width,
                 height=height,
                 klass=klass,
+                alt=alt,
             )
 
     def _repr_mimebundle_(self, include=None, exclude=None):
@@ -1006,6 +1016,8 b' class Image(DisplayObject):'
             md['height'] = self.height
         if self.unconfined:
             md['unconfined'] = self.unconfined
+        if self.alt:
+            md['alt'] = self.alt
         if md or always_both:
             return b64_data, md
         else:

IPython/core/tests/test_display.py

@@ -457,3 +457,21 b' def test_display_handle():'
         'update': True,
     })
 
+def test_image_alt_tag():
+    """Simple test for display.Image(args, alt=x,)"""
+    thisurl = 'http://example.com/image.png'
+    img = display.Image(url=thisurl, alt='an image')
+    nt.assert_equal(u'<img src="%s" alt="an image"/>' % (thisurl), img._repr_html_())
+    img = display.Image(url=thisurl, unconfined=True, alt='an image')
+    nt.assert_equal(u'<img src="%s" class="unconfined" alt="an image"/>' % (thisurl), img._repr_html_())
+    img = display.Image(url=thisurl, alt='>"& <')
+    nt.assert_equal(u'<img src="%s" alt="&gt;&quot;&amp; &lt;"/>' % (thisurl), img._repr_html_())
+
+    img = display.Image(url=thisurl, metadata={'alt':'an image'})
+    nt.assert_equal(img.alt, 'an image')
+
+    here = os.path.dirname(__file__)
+    img = display.Image(os.path.join(here, "2x2.png"), alt='an image')
+    nt.assert_equal(img.alt, 'an image')
+    _, md = img._repr_png_()
+    nt.assert_equal(md['alt'], 'an image')