Accessibility Answers: How Do I Handle Alt Attributes
When I give presentations on accessibility, I often get one or two questions I’ve fielded before. I’ve collected a handful for an ongoing series of posts with my answers. I hope it helps you understand accessibility better.
How do I handle alt attributes?
Alt attributes can trip up even the most seasoned web worker. But do them right, and they make a huge difference to screen reader users.
I like this table from an article by Whitney Quesenbery.
| If the image contains… | The alt text should… |
|---|---|
| Text | Repeat the text |
| Visual information | Explain it |
| Sensory information | Describe it |
| Nothing new | Keep it very short (if you can’t make it “null”) |
If you want more explanation, check out the W3C’s alt decision tree.
All images should have an alt attribute, even if it’s empty or null, like: alt="".
Follow the series Accessibility Answers. Ask me a question via my contact page or Twiter.
Image by rawpixel.