Alternative Text
Alternative Text
Alternative text (also known as "alt text") provides a text equivalent for non-text content such as images, graphs, and charts. It ensures you, the author, convey the intended meaning of the non-text elements of your content, and it is required to meet accessibility guidelines (WCAG Level A).
Have you ever struggled to visualize a concept or process? Imagine attempting to do this with a file name and the word, "image," or "graphic"? Do you think you would be successful? Probably not as most file names do not provide enough content and in some cases, are gibberish such as IMG_044.jpg. However, this is often what those using assistive technologies, such as a text-to-speech tool (e.g., screen reader), experience when they come to a non-text element in content because alt text is not provided.
Successful alt text will provide a text equivalent of a non-text element as concisely as possible. If the alternative text is too lengthy, it will interrupt the individual’s reading flow. If it’s too short, it won’t communicate everything that it needs to include. Effectively, alt text should be as long as it needs to be in order to effectively describe the content, but it must also be succinct.
Students with vision loss or blindness, cognitive processing delays, reading disorders, and/or English as a second language (ESL) need the alt text to provide a description of the non-text element as it relates to the context surrounding it. Yet, these are not the only students that benefit from alt text. Some students simply prefer using text-to-speech technologies to listen to content, and there is a new generation of mobile learners listening to their textbooks as audiobooks while on the go such as in their car or even on a jog.
ABS’s Guidelines for Verbal Description (Art Beyond Sight)
Accessible Images When It Matters the Most (Deque Systems YouTube)
Add Alt Text to Charts (Microsoft Support)
Add Alt Text to Images (Microsoft Support)
Add Alt Text to Shapes or SmartArt Graphics (Microsoft Support)
Alternative Text (WebAIM)
Alternative Text: What and Why (Bureau of Internet Accessibility)
Alt Text and Image Description (SeeWriteHear)
Alt-Text for Art & Design Images (Washington University Saint Lewis)
Alt Text Image Concepts (W3C)
An alt decision tree (W3C)
Are there Guidelines for Describing Complex Images? (Washington Do-It Center)
Cooper Hewitt Guidelines for Image Descriptions (Cooper Hewitt)
Creating Accessible Content: Alternative Text (Portland Community College)
How long can “alt” text be? (Washington Do-It Center)
How Museums are Making Artworks Accessible (Art in America)
How to Add Alternative Text in Google Docs and Slides (Google Doc)
Image Description Guidelines (Diagram Center)
Improve Accessibility with Alt Text (Microsoft Support)
Informative Images (W3C)
Mysteries of Accessibility: Using Color and Composing Alt Text (Hawkes Learning YouTube)
No More Excuses - The Definitive Guide to the Alt Text Field (Phase 2)
Word Add Alt Text (Microsoft Support)
What Constitutes Good Alt Text? (Washington Do-It Center)
What is the Current Recommendation for Providing Long Descriptions for Complex Graphics? (Washington Do-It Center)
What is Alternative (Alt) Text? (Google Slides)
Welcome to Coyote! (Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago)