The Why, How, and What to Making Online Images Accessible
A recent review of Division of Undergraduate Education webpages revealed a lack of alternative text, or “alt text”, on images. Alt text is a description added to an image to explain its content. It is the first step to web accessibility, and we have your quick guide for using alt text.
Why is alt text important?
We get it: it can be tough to keep track of all the ins and outs of best practices in the digital sphere. However, there are multiple benefits to remembering alt text for your photos.
Accessibility
Alt text enables your website to communicate to people with disabilities or limited vision by describing images. Ignoring alt text creates barriers for people who cannot see content on your site and who navigate the site using a screen reader.
Search Engine Optimization
Search engines like Google scan websites for matching words. Describing an image with alt text helps search engines make sense of your images and allows your page to show up in relevant searches.
Connection Issues
Whether a person has images turned off or an image fails to load, alt text will appear in place of the image.
Good Alt Text
Bad Alt Text
How do you use alt text effectively?
Not all attempts to use alt text are effective. Remember these best practices for using alt text. Describe what is shown in the photo itself; avoid adding complementary information as a caption might. Enter alt text for every image, except decorative images that add nothing to the text. Keep it concise; use no more than 10–15 words. Include any words that appear in informative images.
What are the expectations of you?
The Division of Undergraduate Education is committed to making all our content accessible. Do your part to uphold this commitment and include alt text on every image you publish to the website.
If you need a refresher on the technical portions of adding alt text, we are here to help.
Did you know? You can also use alt tags on social media.
Whether you are on Facebook or Flickr, most social media platforms offer options to increase accessibility of your photos.