Alt text (or alternate text) is just a text description of an image for users that cannot see the image. When you add alt text to an image, it actually goes into the html code back end of your content, so that someone’s using a screen reader will hear the description. This means that they can have an equivalent experience to someone that can see the image. That’s a key word there: It needs to be an equivalent experience to someone that’s sighted or someone that is able to load the image. Alt text is also very helpful in case an image doesn’t load for whatever reason – whether it’s a broken image or someone has very low bandwidth and can’t download images.
Alt text is required under Section 508! And it’s such an easy feature to include that makes the experience better for everyone.
Alt-text is generally pretty easy to add! Make it short and sweet: 100 characters or less. If an image is decorative, simply don’t add alt text!
Microsoft Word and any decent Content/Learning Management System should make it simple to add alt text. Infographics and memes should have all text typed out below the images
Watch the video to learn more.
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