![]() ![]() When the main focus of your content is an image, and/or when the emotion conveyed by that image adds something extra to the content around it, you may choose to describe that image with longer, more detailed alt text. ![]() w hen to ignore Tip #1 and add more detail If they need to be uploaded as images, however, not adding alt text is fine – screen readers will simply skip over them, which is what we're after in this scenario. Ideally any decorative images should be included within your code rather than added as ‘content’. They don't have any contextual significance or meaning, so won't help people understand the page better if given alt text. They make things look nice, or visually break-up content on a page. 'Decorative' images include things like page dividers, or brand graphics. They help to convey information, in context. 'Illustrative' images are things like photos of your venue, or press stills from a show. Don't add alt text to 'decorative' images Why? Because it’s already there in the page heading.Ħ. Or if an event 'image' is a heavily-designed title treatment and you’re already on the event page – no need to add the title of your show as alt text. Unless it means repeating yourself …Īlt text isn’t needed if it'd repeat what’s already on the page. Where text is included as part of an image, be sure to transcribe it as part of your description. Google can tell! So, your primary focus must be to describe any images requiring alt text specifically and succinctly. unhelpful) alt text but you may be ranked-down for keyword stuffing. Search engines can’t recognise contextually ‘bad’ (i.e. But only when done truthfully and sparingly. If, when describing an image, you can sensibly incorporate a top keyword or two: great. However it is good to help people understand context, so explaining the type of image – e.g headshot, illustration, chart, screengrab – can be useful. Imagine how frustrating it'd be using a screen reader on an image-heavy page, and having it read: "Image of the theatre" "Image of front of house area" "Image of exterior signage" "Image of the box office team" "Image of the auditorium" "Image of the stage" … arrrrgh! It’s going to be obvious to either a person or a machine when something they're accessing is alt text. Never start with “Image of …” or “Picture of …” (Errr, usually – have a read of the context caveat)Ģ. Bear in mind that screen readers may cut-off alt text at around 125 characters, so best stick within that limit. One of the best suggestions I’ve heard is to think how you’d briefly describe the image over the phone.Ī few words will usually be enough though sometimes a full sentence is necessary. will help to build the picture for someone who can't see the image. Say what you see – and don't make assumptions about ethnicity, gender, what's happening out of shot, a subject's motivations etc.īut do be descriptive about what you can see – adding information about skin tone, hair colour/style etc. Here're some tips to help you get it right:ĭescribe the content of the image without editorialising. But it's not necessarily an easy thing to get the hang of – and can even harm accessibility if done poorly. The more thoughtfully and helpfully you describe all of your content to users, the easier it is for search engine robots to understand as well.Īdding useful alt text to images is one of the easiest ways to make your website more accessible. Thinking about that in another way good alt text gives search engines more – and better – information to rank your website with so they'll rank it higher. It's displayed in place of the image in browsers if the image file hasn't loaded, or when the user has chosen not to view images.īecause good alt text provides semantic meaning to, and a description of, an image, it's used by search engines to return search results.It can be useful to people with certain sensory processing and/or learning disabilities.It's read by screen readers in place of images, allowing your image content to be accessed by people who are blind or have visual impairment.Well-written alt text is important to your website's accessibility, and its search engine optimisation (SEO). It's a short written description of an image, which makes sense of that image when it can't be viewed for some reason. 'Alt text' is a contraction of 'alternative text'. What is alt text, and why is it important? ![]()
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