Why use alt text?

Last updated: 11 November 2024

Licence

Why use alt text? by Dremenec is licensed under CC BY 4.0

Infographic

An infographic. There are six panels. 1. 'Slow internet. Alt text is shown in place of unloaded images.' a drawing shows a phone with poor signal, and alt text is visible where the image should have loaded. 2. 'Findabillity. Alt text helps to search content.' A drawing shows someone searching 'dog with banana' and a post is shown underneath without the words 'dog' or 'banana'. It is implied to be part of the alt text. 3. 'Screen readers. Alt is read out to people using text-to-speech software'. There is a drawing of the output a screen-reader would show when viewing an image with alt text on bluesky. 4. 'Translation. Alt text can be translated'. A drawing shows a post being translated. The alt text is also translated into german. 5. 'Readability. Text in images can be made legible' There is a drawing of some truly awful handwriting inside a speech bubble. The alt text clarifies what the text is supposed to say. 6. 'Disambiguation. Description helps clarify intent.' There is a drawing of a post with a picture of a creature. This is styled after the famous optical illusion of a rabbit and a duck. The alt text clarifies that the animal is a rabbit. It definitely looks more like a duck.

Transcript

An infographic. There are six panels.

  1. 'Slow internet. Alt text is shown in place of unloaded images.'
    A drawing shows a phone with poor signal, and alt text is visible where the image should have loaded.
  2. 'Findabillity. Alt text helps to search content.'
    A drawing shows someone searching 'dog with banana' and a post is shown underneath without the words 'dog' or 'banana'. It is implied to be part of the alt text.
  3. 'Screen readers. Alt is read out to people using text-to-speech software.'
    There is a drawing of the output a screen-reader would show when viewing an image with alt text on bluesky.
  4. 'Translation. Alt text can be translated.'
    A drawing shows a post being translated. The alt text is also translated into german.
  5. 'Readability. Text in images can be made legible.'
    There is a drawing of some truly awful handwriting inside a speech bubble. The alt text clarifies what the text is supposed to say.
  6. 'Disambiguation. Description helps clarify intent.'
    There is a drawing of a post with a picture of a creature. This is styled after the famous optical illusion of a rabbit and a duck. The alt text clarifies that the animal is a rabbit. It definitely looks more like a duck.