What is Alt Text?
Alternative text, also known as alt text, is text that accompanies an image on a webpage. <ostly used in HTML or seen on website builders, it is very important to use for images that convey information for people who are visually impaired. This text only appears on the screen if the image fails to load or if the user is visually impaired and is using a screen reader.
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Alt text should be specific and descriptive in as few words as possible, which is typically 125 characters or less. It should not include “image of” or “graphic of” since it is already known and can get repetitive if there are a lot of images on the webpage. Alt text is not necessary if the image is only for decorative purposes.
alt="bear"
This alt text is bad because it is too generic and does not provide enough context.
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alt="panda eating bamboo in the forest"
This alt text is good because it gives enough context that someone could still generally know what the image looks like without actually seeing it.
alt="bird meadow grass sky puffin"
This alt text is bad because it lists out keywords in no specific order, making it difficult to determine what the picture is.
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alt="puffin standing in a meadow"
This alt text is good because it gives enough context that someone could still generally know what the image looks like without actually seeing it.
alt="image"
This alt text is bad because it gives no context of what the image is.
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alt="stack of pancakes with powdered sugar and berries"
This alt text is good because it gives enough context that someone could still generally know what the image looks like without actually seeing it.