Alt Text

Alt text (alternative text) provides more accessibility to your images. It  is a brief description of an image that helps screen readers convey the content to visually impaired users and improves search engine optimization (SEO) by providing context to the image.

What are Alt Text best practices?

Here are some Alt text best practices, tips and tricks:

1. Be Descriptive and Specific: Clearly describe the content and function of the image. Include details that convey the image’s purpose.
2. Keep It Concise: Aim for 125 characters or fewer. Long descriptions can be cumbersome for screen reader users.
3. Use Relevant Keywords: Include important keywords that are relevant to the image content for SEO purposes, but avoid keyword stuffing.
4. Avoid Redundancy: Don’t start with phrases like “image of” or “picture of.” Screen readers already announce it as an image.
5. Context Matters: Tailor the alt text to fit the context in which the image appears. Describe what’s important in the context of the surrounding content.
6. Functional Images: For buttons or icons, describe the action they perform, e.g., “Search button” or “Play video.”
7. Decorative Images: If an image is purely decorative, use a null alt attribute (alt=””) to let screen readers skip it.
8. Test with Screen Readers: Check how your alt text works with screen readers to ensure it makes sense and provides value.
9. Avoid Repetition: If the image’s content is already described nearby in the text, keep the alt text brief or null to avoid redundancy.
10. Use Simple Language: Ensure the description is easy to understand, avoiding complex jargon or technical terms unless necessary.

What is Alt text on Instagram?

Alt text on Instagram is a feature that allows users to add descriptions to their photos, which can be read by screen readers to assist visually impaired users in understanding the content of the images. Additionally, alt text can help improve the discoverability of posts through better SEO. Users can manually add alt text to each image, ensuring that the description accurately reflects the content and context of the photo.

What are Alt Text examples?

Here are some examples of how you can write your alt text for your blog, Instagram or anywhere else.

• Graph: “Line graph showing the increase in website traffic from January to June 2024.”
• Infographic: “Infographic illustrating the steps to create a successful marketing strategy.”
• Picture of Your Product: ” “High-resolution image of our new scented candle in an elegant glass jar.”
• BTS Photo of Your Team: “Behind-the-scenes photo of our team brainstorming in the office.”
• Landscape Photographer: “Panoramic view of a green valley with rolling hills and a river winding through, under a vibrant sunset sky.”