An intro to alt text

Alt text: An overview

Alt text is the short description that goes with images on the internet. We write alt text for three reasons:

1. Accessibility: 1.5 million Canadians have vision loss and an additional 5.59 million have an eye disease that could cause future vision loss. Alt text is what a screenreader reads in the place of an image.
   
   Alt text also helps website visitors who have limited internet bandwidth. The CRTC estimates that 54% of rural Canadians, and 20% of Canadians overall, have internet speeds below the minimum standard of 50 megabits per second. If your website, social media, or newsletter is trying to reach rural or marginalized communities, there’s a chance that image files won’t load.
   

2. Things break: It is a universal rule of a fast moving campaign that things break, particularly image files. While you are adding your alt text, you can add an alt tag, which will be a stand-in for the image until the error is discovered.
   

3. SEO: If you’re not prioritizing accessibility on your campaign and need some incentive, here it is: images with alt text improve your site’s search engine optimization. Accessibility benefits everyone, so let’s learn how to get those pictures tagged!

What alt text should include

• The way that we at Pith & Pulp think about alt text is like this: If you were given only the alt text, would you be able to accurately sketch out the image? Would you have enough details to know the focus of the image? Or would extraneous words make it difficult to know what the focus of the image was?

• While you are getting the hang of writing alt text, the sketching exercise can be a great test for how well you are writing your image descriptions. Read them to a colleague and see if they work!

What alt text should not include

• The description does not need to include “A picture of” or “An image of.” This is because a screen reader will announce that it is reading is an image description. The exception to this rule is if you are describing a specific type of image, like an illustration, a portrait, an archival photograph.

• Alt text helps your SEO, but that doesn’t mean it’s a place for extra SEO keywords. Don’t dump random words in your alt text. That is the opposite of accessibility.

• Alt text is not a place for colour commentary, jokes, or observations. Save your wit for your written section and your description for the alt entry.

Where your alt text should appear

If you are running a campaign, you are likely posting images on:

• Facebook

• Instagram

• Tiktok

• Twitter

• Your website

At the time of writing this, there is no way to add a video description on Tiktok beyond putting it in the caption. Fortunately, Instagram recently rolled out a much easier to find alt text option. Adding alt text on Facebook will depend on the device that you are using.

Using a social media manager like Hootsuite or Sprout? Many of these platforms allow you to upload your alt text through their platform (although at the time of writing this, Sprout can’t alt text Instagram images).

Your website’s functionality will depend on what backend it is built on, but the majority of large site builders offer alt text (here is Squarespace’s guide).

One final note of caution: if you are posting graphs or charts, consider using Datawrapper instead of a screenshot of an excel or google sheets file. Datawrapper allows readers to interact with the chart, which improves comprehension for many readers. For visually impaired readers, the site has rolled out new accessibility features.

In summary…

Alt text ensures that your campaign signals to everyone in your community that they are welcome, considered, and important. So please take the time to add it to your images.

As someone on twitter once said, alt text or it didn’t happen.

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Want help with your social media planning? We’d love to help!