It’s a Tough Job But Someone Has To Do It (Spoiler: It’s You)

I’ve been anxious to get the latest installment in my series on better web accessibility through content management published. It’s taken some time becasue it’s one of the more step-filled tasks in the series so there’s a good bit to cover.

Having said that, it’s also one of the most important tasks: assigning image alt text. In a nutshell, image alt text is what allows site visitors with visual impairments to understand how images are used and when they are important to their browsing experience.

Adding images without using appropriate alternative attributes (alt tags), can be extremely frustrating for people with visual impairments using assistive technologies, such as screen readers. Alt text descriptions add valuable information for those screen readers.

This article walks through the five steps in the w3.org decision tree that you can use to help determine exactly which actions you should take and if images even need alt text at all (some don’t!).

Image Alt Text And Accessibility