And of course, alt text should be added when creating content Microsoft Office- read more about adding alt text in Microsoft Word here, adding alt text in PowerPoint presentations here, and creating screen reader-friendly presentations in Microsoft Sway here. Twitter users can add alt text by enabling these settings here. Bloggers and webmasters can add alt text to images on their websites. I still recommend typing “null” as alt text for decorative images as opposed to leaving it blank.Īlt text can and should be used in a variety of settings.
Decorative images that have nothing to do with the website content, such as shapes or patterns, do not need alt text or image descriptions, and neither do blank images. There are times where using alt text or image descriptions is pointless. It never hurts to double check alt text and make sure that both the computer and humans are in agreement as to what is in the picture. For example, automatic alt text once interpreted a picture of my brother standing outside as being a picture of a car. While this is an awesome feature, it isn’t always the most accurate. I talk about some of these details in my post on texting etiquette and low vision here.Īutomatic alt text is being integrated into different websites.
Obvious details such as someone having two eyes, a nose, and a mouthĭetails that are not the focus of the picture These include:ĭescriptions of colors- no need to describe what red looks like Likewise, there are some things that should be left out of image descriptions. Here are features that can be included in image descriptions- write about these when applicable:Ĭlothes (if they are an important detail) When composing image descriptions, it may seem difficult to decide what to include. Alt text is also useful for images with decorative text that may be difficult to see, like a signature or logo. Use proper spelling, capitalization, spacing, and grammar too- if someone is pinning the image to Pinterest, the alt text is what will display as the image description. If an image has text in it, make sure to write out the image text verbatim as alt text. Speaking of Twitter, read my post on low vision Twitter accounts to follow here, and follow me on Twitter here. Image descriptions can be longer, but I recommend keeping them the length of a tweet, or about 280 characters. It is strongly recommended that alt text be 125 characters or less to ensure compatibility for popular screen readers. Alt text and image descriptions can provide essential information such as text, links, and image details.Ī picture may be worth a thousand words, but there’s no reason to write them all out and leave the user waiting for the descriptions to end. Screen readers will read the alt text out loud, as well as image descriptions, depending on what settings the user has enabled. People with vision impairments such as low vision and blindness may use screen readers in order to access the internet, or just have trouble distinguishing images. How it helps people with vision impairments For example, alt text tells someone that there’s a puddle on the floor, and image description tells someone that the puddle on the floor is in the middle of the floor and it’s orange juice. Alt text gives the user the most important information while image descriptions provide further detail. Search engines also index alt text information and consider it a factor when determining search engine ratings.Īn image description gives more details than alt text and allows someone to learn more about what is in an image that goes beyond alt text. If an image fails to load, alt text will display in its place.
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Read on to learn more about how to create alt text and image descriptions.Īlt text tells people what is in an image, such as text or basic essential details. By adding alt text and image descriptions, barriers are lifted and more people can access your content. If someone went on your website or profile with their eyes closed, would they still be able to find their way around? As more and more people develop vision impairments, they turn to assistive technology in order to access content- read more about this in my World Sight Day 2017 post here.
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