Hi,

many thanks to all who responded to my post.

Since this is basically for clients, I am (albeit
reluctantly) going to convert the graphics to
PNGs (which poses another problem for IE, which
does not support alpha channels in PNGs, at least
IE 6 doesn't).

I converted the font inside the SVG to paths, to
avoid problems with the rendering, since this is
an uncommon font. I tried to attach links to the
text, but removed them, since  the links were not
indicated (cursor to hand) over the entire area
where the text is visible.

Bottom line (for me):

I want to encourage everyone to start using SVGs
for web design (wherever feasible), since this opens
up so many new possibilities. And regarding the
problem of text not being recognized by search
engines, I  thought about separating the design
elements( = SVG) from the content (= text) by
putting the text on another layer. In addition,
<link rel= ... comes to my mind as one means
to provide search engines with links they can follow.

Greetings,

Claus