Alitalia hand baggage allowance in practice

Question

So I'm reading the hand baggage allowance for Alitalia here; https://www.alitalia.com/en_gb/fly-alitalia/baggage/hand-baggage.html

It says

YOU ARE ALLOWED ONE ITEM OF HAND BAGGAGE WEIGHING NO MORE THAN 8 KG AND MEASURING NO MORE THAN:

• 55 cm HIGH
• 35 cm WIDE
• 25 cm DEEP

And also

Alitalia also lets you bring an accessory of your choice from the following:

• Briefcase
• Laptop computer
• Handbag

Which surprises me, because my idea of a briefcase is rather bigger than either a handbag or a laptop. Something like this;

Has anyone taken a briefcase on an Alitalia flight in addition of their hand luggage, and was it similar to the object shown?

Does anyone have a more general sense as to whether the object shown would be accepted?

Answer 1

Many laptop computer cases and handbags are close in size to the illustrated briefcase, a Solomon Chancellor Vernon, which measures 16.5 x 11 x 4.5 in (42 x 28 x 11.5 cm).

In comparison, a laptop case can measure 17 x 3 x 14 inches. While I haven't taken a briefcase, I had no issues boarding my Alitalia flights with both a large (14 x 3 x 10 in) tote and a carry-on suitcase. And many travellers put a smaller handbag/purse into a larger tote to comply with the one-plus-one restrictions.

Answer 2

So the flight I was asking about happened. I took a hand luggage and a briefcase like the one pictured and it caused no issues. Nobody besides security even looked at what I was carrying on. Other travellers walked on with two carry-on suitcases each.

For anyone reading this in the future I would say you can probably take most backpack sized bags as a carry on accessory, it's not strictly policed.