Alt text
Alt text is what special-accessibility software uses to read the site aloud to a visitor with disabilities.
For each image, document and link to webpages or sites (internal and external) that you put on a page, be sure to fill in the alt text (for images), and the description field (for documents and links to websites).
-
For documents and links, the alt text is in the Description field in the Link tab in the editing ribbon.
-
For images, the alt text is in the Alt text field in the Image tab in the editing ribbon.
Alt text is added when you add a link to an image, document or external website.
To follow best practice for alt text:
-
Keep the alt text between 5 and 15 words.
-
Use keywords and other text that is meaningful to the website visitor, for example: if the image is about "cleaning a j-tube" use that text, not some other, formal language that the visitor won't understand.
-
Clearly and succinctly describe the image or link.
-
Do not include a file extension such as .jpg or .com.
-
Do not repeat the caption of an image, if there is one.
-
Don't include phrases such as "Image of . . .", "Link to . . .".
-
Every link should make sense if the link description is read by itself. Screen reader users may choose to read only the links on a web page. Certain phrases like "click here" and "more" must be avoided.
For more about alt text, see the website WebAIM (web accessibility in mind).
Example of a poor alt tag
Example of a descriptive alt tag