Alt-text is an abbreviation for alternative text, a brief written description of an image that helps make sense of it when people can't view it. Consequently, it is best to include well-written alt texts because it is essential for your website's accessibility and search engine optimization. Fortunately, some accessibility overlay tools can help you.
Some now use Artificial Intelligence to
interpret images and add alt tags labels. Sadly, some overlay tools may cause
more problems. Therefore, it is best to test everything or know what to do
without these technologies.
The
Difference between Alt Text and Captions
Captions and alt text are similar in many
ways. Both give a description of the image and context for how it fits the rest
of the content. However, alt texts are usually not visible on the web page,
whereas captions are visible to anyone who visits the page. Captions can be
more beneficial for accessibility. Captions are especially useful for pictures
that may require a lot of alt text to describe accurately.
Guidelines
for Creating Effective Alt Text
Adding alt text to your website is one of the
simplest ways to improve the accessibility of your website. However, it is not
always simple to master – and if done incorrectly, it can hurt accessibility.
Moreover, no alt text is frequently preferable to bad (i.e., annoying or
meaningless) alt text.
Here are some pointers:
Be
specific and concise.
Describe the image's content without being
editorial. One of the best suggestions is to imagine how you'd describe the
image over the phone in a few sentences. A few words are usually sufficient,
but a complete sentence is sometimes required. Keep in mind that screen readers
may cut off alt text at around 125 characters, so keep that in mind.
Decorative
images should not have alt text.
Photographs of your venue or a show are
examples of 'illustrative' images. They aid in the transmission of information
in context. Page dividers and brand graphics are examples of 'decorative'
pictures. They are used to make things look nice or visually break up content
on a page. However, they have no contextual significance or meaning, so they
will not help people understand the page better if given alt text.
Ideally, you should include any decorative
images within your code rather than being added as content. However, if they
must be uploaded as images, leaving out the alt text is fine – screen readers
will skip over them, which is what you want in this case.
Comments
Post a Comment