Alt text

Definition

Alt text, short for 'alternative text', is a written description added to an image on a website or digital platform that conveys the content and function of that image. It serves multiple purposes, including improving accessibility for visually impaired users who rely on screen readers and enhancing SEO by providing search engines with context about the image, ultimately helping improve digital discoverability.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

1. Alt text should be concise, usually around 125 characters or less, and provide clear information about the image.
2. Including relevant keywords in alt text can improve a website's SEO performance by helping search engines understand the content of the images.
3. Images without alt text can negatively affect accessibility, making it difficult for visually impaired users to understand the context of visual content.
4. Best practices suggest writing alt text that is descriptive but not overly detailed; it should convey what is important about the image without being redundant.
5. Using unique alt text for every image on a page can help improve overall site discoverability as it provides more context to search engines.

Review Questions

• How does alt text contribute to the accessibility of digital content for visually impaired users?
  • Alt text enhances accessibility by providing a textual description of images for visually impaired users who utilize screen readers. When these users encounter an image on a webpage, the screen reader reads the alt text aloud, allowing them to understand what the image represents and its relevance to the surrounding content. This ensures that all users, regardless of their visual ability, can access and comprehend visual information online.
• In what ways can effective use of alt text improve a website's SEO performance?
  • Effective use of alt text can significantly boost a website's SEO performance by incorporating relevant keywords that help search engines index images correctly. By providing clear and descriptive alt text for images, webmasters give search engines additional context about the content, which can enhance ranking in search results. Additionally, well-optimized images with alt text can appear in image searches, driving more traffic to the site.
• Evaluate the importance of writing unique and descriptive alt text for each image on a webpage in terms of overall digital discoverability.
  • Writing unique and descriptive alt text for each image is crucial for enhancing overall digital discoverability because it provides distinct context to search engines and improves user experience. Each image contributes additional content for search engines to index, allowing them to better understand the webpage's topic. This unique approach not only aids in ranking higher in search results but also ensures that users searching for specific information related to those images can find them more easily, ultimately leading to increased engagement and traffic.

Related terms

SEO:

Search Engine Optimization, a set of practices aimed at increasing the visibility and ranking of a website in search engine results.

Accessibility: The practice of making digital content usable for all people, including those with disabilities, ensuring equal access to information and functionality.

Screen Reader: A software application that converts digital text into speech or braille, allowing visually impaired users to access web content.