Back to Glossary

Alt Text

Alternative text that describes an image for screen readers and search engines.

What is Alt Text?

Alt text (alternative text) is added to image HTML tags and serves two purposes: it's read aloud by screen readers for visually impaired users, and it helps search engines understand image content. Good alt text describes what's in the image accurately and concisely, including relevant keywords when natural.

Example

For an image of a chocolate cake, good alt text might be: 'Three-layer chocolate cake with ganache frosting on white serving plate' rather than just 'cake' or 'IMG_1234'.

Related Terms