Body
Overview
Alternative text, or "alt text", provides a text equivalent for images, charts, graphs, and more. Some of its benefits include:
- It can be read by assistive technologies. This is a "make it or break it" difference for anyone using a screen reader because without alt text, screen reader customers simply cannot know what the image is conveying.
- It can help sighted customers access the content of the image when their browsers fail to display the image.
- It can help English learners gain vocabulary to describe what they see.
- It can help you, the author, make sure that the image you've selected communicates your intended purpose.
- Finally, alt text can make it easier for customers to find your page via search engines.
When you include alternative text for your images, you make them accessible to everyone in your audience - not just the people who access information in the same way that you do.