Alternative Text

What is alternative text?

Alternative text, also referred to as alt text, is a short written description of an image. Alt text is a key way to make online content accessible for people with disabilities, especially screen reader users. However, there are a variety of other benefits of adding alt text to your images. For example, if an image fails to load on a web page, alt text can ensure that readers still understand its context and meaning, as it is included as an “alt attribute” as part of the page’s HTML code. Alt text can also boost your content’s performance in search engines. 

Example: We use AI tools to automatically generate alt text for all images on our website, then have our copy editors proofread and adjust them as necessary.

Best practices for writing alt text 

Best practices for writing appropriate alt text depend on the type of image. For purely decorative images that don’t contribute any meaning or content to a piece, such as background images, no alt text is typically necessary. Therefore, the best practice is often to tell screen readers to skip the content. 

For functional images like clickable buttons or images that are used as links, it’s best to be as clear as possible in your descriptive text. Explain the action the user must take and exactly what will happen if they do so. For example, if clicking a button will result in a PDF download, your alt text should include the words “download” and “PDF,” as well as the name of the file.

For simple informative images that add context and meaning to your page content, write concise alt text of 1–2 sentences describing exactly what the image shows and what it means. For complex images, such as charts and graphs, give a brief description of the purpose of the image in the alt text. Then, be sure to include an explanation of the image in the written content of the page itself.