The importance of Alt Text
Have you ever come across an image on a website and been left wondering what it was supposed to represent? This is where alt text, or “alternative text”, comes in to save the day!
Alt text, also known as "alternative text" or "alt tags," is a powerful tool in website design and development that provides a short description of an image.
This text is intended to be read by web browsers, search engines, and other technology, such as screen readers, to understand the content of the image and provide context for users who may be unable to see it.
But, why is alt text so important? The answer is simple: accessibility. Alt text helps to make the web more accessible for everyone, particularly for people with visual impairments, such as those who are blind or have low vision. Screen readers, which are software programs used by people with visual impairments to read the text on a website aloud, rely on alt text to understand the content of images.
But, alt text isn't just for the visually impaired, it also helps search engines to understand the content of a website. Search engines use alt text to understand the context of an image and to determine its relevance to a user's search query. This can help to improve a website's search engine rankings and make it more likely to appear at the top of search results.
Good alt text should:
Accurately describe the content of the image.
Be brief and concise.
Use relevant keywords, but avoid stuffing too many keywords into the alt text.
Avoid using phrases like "image of" or "graphic of," as these are unnecessary and can make the alt text longer and less useful.
More examples of good alt text:
A chart showing the sales of a company over the past year: "Annual sales chart for XYZ company"
A logo for a company: "XYZ company logo"
Alt text is a game changer for website design and development. It helps to make the web more accessible for everyone, particularly for people with visual impairments, improves search engine optimization and provides context and meaning to images. So, next time you're designing or developing a website, don't forget to include alt text for all images and non-textual content, it could make all the difference!