Alt Text What Is It

What is Alt Text?

Alt text, also known as alternative text, is a written description or attribute that is added to an image in order to provide a textual description of the visual content. It is typically used by individuals who are visually impaired, as well as by web crawlers or bots that index web pages for search engine purposes. Alt text is also used when the image cannot be displayed on the page, due to broken links or slow internet connections.

Why is Alt Text Important?

Alt text is important because it helps to make web content more accessible to everyone, including individuals who use screen readers or other assistive technologies. When an image is accompanied by alt text, a screen reader will read out the description of the image, which allows the user to understand the context and purpose of the image. Alt text is also important from an ethical perspective, as it helps to ensure that all users are able to access and engage with web content on an equal basis.

In addition to its accessibility benefits, alt text is also important for search engine optimization (SEO). Since search engines cannot “see” images in the same way humans can, they rely on alt text to understand the content and context of an image. Including relevant and descriptive alt text for your images can help to improve your website’s visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) and make it more likely that your content will be discovered by users searching for related topics or keywords.

In conclusion, alt text is a crucial aspect of web design and development that helps to ensure that web content is accessible to all users, including those with disabilities. By providing a clear and concise description of any visual content on your website, you can help to improve the user experience for everyone and make your content more discoverable in search engine results pages.