Alt Text for Everyone: Making Visual Content Accessible and Engaging

In today’s digital world, visuals play a major role in communication, marketing, and storytelling. But for millions of users with visual impairments, or anyone using screen readers, images without descriptions become barriers. Alt Text (alternative text) bridges this gap. It ensures that every user, regardless of ability, can access and understand visual content. Writing meaningful Alt Text is not just good practice, it is an essential part of accessibility and user-friendly design.

Why Alt Text Matters:

Alt Text is a short written description that conveys the essential information or purpose of an image. Screen readers use Alt Text to describe images to visually impaired users. When written well, Alt Text supports accessibility, improves user experience, and can even boost SEO.

Without Alt Text, users relying on assistive technologies may miss critical information, lose context, or feel excluded from the content flow. Thoughtful Alt Text ensures that websites and documents welcome everyone by removing unnecessary barriers.

What Good Alt Text Should Include:

Effective Alt Text is clear, concise, and purposeful. It should communicate what the image represents and why it is relevant.

Key qualities of strong Alt Text:

Accuracy: Describe the image truthfully.

Clarity: Use simple, straightforward language.

Relevance: Focus on the information the image adds to the content.

Brevity: Ideally 125 characters or fewer, unless the image is complex.

Context: Tailor the description to the message the image supports.

For example, instead of “A man standing,” write “A researcher presenting data on a conference stage,” if that detail matters to the surrounding content.

Common Mistakes to Avoid: Even experienced writers often fall into common Alt Text traps. Avoid the following:

Writing “image of” or “picture of”: Screen readers already indicate an image.

Being too vague: Descriptions like “nice scenery” don’t help users understand the purpose.

Overloading with unnecessary details: Focus only on what matters to the context.

Skipping functional images: Icons, buttons, or charts also need Alt Text explaining their function or meaning.

Ignoring decorative images: If an image adds no value, use empty Alt Text (alt="") so screen readers skip it.

How Alt Text Improves SEO:

Beyond accessibility, Alt Text plays a beneficial role in search engine optimization. Search engines rely on text to understand image content. Well-written Alt Text helps:

Improve image search visibility; Strengthen page relevance; Boost keyword placement naturally; Increase overall discoverability of visual content.

However, avoid keyword stuffing. The primary goal is accessibility; SEO benefits should come naturally from meaningful descriptions.

Writing Alt Text for Different Image Types – Different visuals require different description approaches:

Photographs: Describe the main subject and its action or purpose.

Charts and graphs: Summarize the key takeaway, such as “Bar chart showing a 20% growth in sales.”

Infographics: Offer a brief summary of the key message and provide a longer caption if needed.

Icons and buttons: Explain the function (e.g., “Search icon” or “Download PDF button”).

Decorative images: Use empty Alt Text if they do not convey information.

Bringing Accessibility Full Circle:

Alt Text is more than a technical requirement; it’s a vital part of inclusive communication. By writing clear and meaningful descriptions, content creators can make digital spaces more accessible, engaging, and user-friendly for everyone. Whether you’re a designer, editor, marketer, or blogger, mastering Alt Text ensures that your visual content reaches and benefits a wider audience. Making accessibility a priority is not just good practice, it’s the right thing to do.

At S4Carlisle, we support publishers by simplifying the entire accessibility workflow, from accurate Alt Text creation to complete Compliance Checks. Our expert Editorial and Accessibility teams ensure every image, chart, and graphic meets industry standards, helping publishers deliver fully inclusive and reader-friendly content effortlessly. Contact sales@s4carlisle.com to get started today!