If you’ve ever added an image to your website and skipped the “alt text” box thinking “ah, not important,” this one’s for you.
Alt text (short for alternative text) is a little description you add to an image, usually behind the scenes. Website visitors don’t always see it, but screen readers do – and so do search engines.
So, what does it actually do?
Think of it as a helpful whisper in the ear for people who can’t see the image – whether that’s due to a visual impairment, a dodgy internet connection, or a screen reader doing its thing. If you’ve written good alt text, everyone knows what’s going on, whether they can see the picture or not.
Here’s what makes it matter:
– Accessibility: This is the most important one for me. I’m lucky enough to work with a fabulous range of clients and if one of them needs a screen reader to be able to access my content then it’s the least I can do to make sure that I take the time to make it easy to understand. Adding alt text makes your content accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired as it is read out by the screen reader when they hover over the image.
– SEO Boost: Search engines love a bit of context. Alt text helps Google understand what your page is about, which can give your SEO a little nudge.
– Better User Experience: If an image fails to load (because… internet gremlins), the alt text still tells people what should be there.
What makes good alt text?
You don’t need to write a mini novel. Just a clear, simple description of what’s in the image. If you couldn’t see the image describe what it is trying to convey. To see what I meant, try understanding the meaning of the image from the description… for example:
Keep it relevant, short, and skip the “image of” or “photo of” – screen readers already know it’s an image.
Do I need it for every image?
Not quite. If an image is purely decorative (think swirly divider lines or background flourishes), it’s actually better to leave the alt text blank. Otherwise, screen readers end up reading out “decorative flourish” all over the place, and nobody needs that.
Where should I be adding Alt text?
On blogs and social media platforms. Blogs will all have space for their images to have alt text added. On your favourite platform you might need to have a little dig about to find the alt text box but it’s usually there. If you can’t find it just add it to the caption at the bottom. I’ve popped some instructions for the most common platforms below:
Instagram > Add your photo > click next > on the page where you can add a caption choose Advanced settings > Scroll right to the bottom for accessibility and the box is there.
Facebook > Add your photo > click on ‘edit’ on the photo you have just uploaded > add your text to the bottom of the section
LinkedIn > Add your photo > click the alt button that appears under the photo (gold star to LinkedIn for not hiding this away)
The bottom line?
If you’re adding images to your website or emails, take the extra few seconds to pop in a line of alt text. It’s one of those tiny tweaks that makes a big difference – and it’s bang on brand for making tech more friendly and inclusive.
Bonus tip!!
If you want to save time then try using your favourite AI tool to create the description for you. It will be more objective and much faster than the average human. You can watch my free video showing you how to do this with ChatGPT here.