Images on a website, document, or other electronic media can be helpful by adding visual information or enhancing the aesthetics with decorative impact. However, for users that are not able to see images adequately, we need to use "alternative text" that can convey this information, especially when it is important to the context of the content.
Alternative text, which is often referred to as "alt text" is a text alternative to non-text elements that is presented to the user so the conveyed information serves the equivalent purpose, with some exceptions such as decorative text. Web Communication primarily focuses on alternative text for images.
Alt text should be concise and communicate the information conveyed in the image. Typically, the alt text should be 140 characters or less.
If you are considering placing images of charts, diagrams, infographics, or heavy use of graphically conveyed text on your website, we ask for a detailed description of the information shown by the image. This description will be provided elsewhere (e.g., on the same page or on a separate page).
We ask that when requesting a use of a complex image, that there is:
There are lots of examples of how to provide provide the best alternative text option(s) for images. Below are some great examples to help you determine the best alternative text for your web images.