Its easy to get wrong, however, especially if youre rushing to share content.
Why Is Alt Text Important?
It doesnt just support people with disabilities, either.
So, the advantages of alt text are many.
In short, it can make your content easier to find and understand online.
Do this for all such content, and your whole profiles accessibility improves.
Youll find alt text tools in other kinds of apps, too.
Software for word processing, presentations, teamwork, and more embraces the need for greater accessibility.
Popular apps like Microsoft PowerPoint and Google Sheets are designed to assist the visually impaired when necessary.
But the growing market for screen readers offers many more options.
Start exploring, and youll find many greatalternatives to Microsoft Narrator for visually impaired users.
And alt text on images plays an important part in helping such people work comfortably and with greater independence.
What Makes the Best Alt Text?
Writing good alt text isnt about throwing a bunch of keywords together.
They wouldnt appreciate this description: car building street busy.
But a blue sedan in front of a building in a crowded street makes more sense.
Screen readers and Google bots will think so, too, not just people.
The best alt text is a coherent sentence that a human and an algorithm can understand.
And accurately means making every word count as you provide the images contents and context.
Say you created a static advert for your brand displaying a smiling woman using your new product.
Its not enough for the alt text to say, new office chair.
Feel free to use compound sentences if it helpsjust confirm everything is relevant, coherent, and grammatically correct.
Go straight for a description of the items contents.
If its a pie chart, what is it about?
If its a video, what is its topic, who created it, and so on?
Add Keywords Naturally
Keywords in your alt text count towards your SEO, but there are rules.
Justwriting for Google’s helpful content updatedemands that you put your readers first and not your discoverability.
When it comes to adding keywords to alt text, they must look natural.
Be Selective About Your Alt Text
Finally, not all images even need alt text.
Understanding where to add alt text is as important as how to write it.
And every little tweak makes your descriptions that much more helpful to users with visual impairments.
Enhance your visual elements with appropriate descriptions, and you and your viewers will reap the benefits.
