Responsive, transparent CSS image caption with graceful degradation? - image

Question

What is the proper way to create responsive, transparent CSS captions over images — with graceful degradation in older browsers?
I am trying to achieve:
Centered vertical column of images
Images are equal heights and widths
Each image has a caption which should be centered
Caption should have a see-through background
Would be nice if the background became black in older browsers that don't support transparency
If you take a look at this Fiddle example, there's clearly a lot wrong with it.
The basic premise for HTML5 is:
<section>
<figure>
<img src="1.jpg">
<figcaption>Caption 1</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure>
<img src="2.jpg">
<figcaption>Caption 2</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure>
<img src="3.jpg">
<figcaption>Caption 3</figcaption>
</figure>
</section>
But the CSS3 code is where we get some problems. Is it the right approach even? I got it to work with some fine-tuning (not included), but the fine-tuning doesn't seem to make semantic sense to me anyway.
For example, this is the result:
I have a feeling the CSS is wrong on many levels (pun intended).

Answer 1

I modified your CSS slightly. The main changes were adding position: relative; to the parent element and position: absolute; to the caption.
CSS:
section {
overflow: auto;
}
section figure {
float: left;
clear: both;
position: relative;
overflow: auto;
margin: 0 auto;
padding: 30px 0 0 0;
font-size: 15px;
}
section figure img {
vertical-align: bottom;
}
section figure figcaption {
position: absolute;
bottom: 0;
left: 0;
right: 0;
background: rgba(0,0,0,0.7);
text-align: center;
color: #fff;
padding: 10px;
}
section {
padding-bottom: 30px;
background: #ccc;
}
Demo: http://jsfiddle.net/XjthT/6/