when should an image have null alt text

What about that photo of the corporate headquarters then? It may not be an inspiring image, but maybe it should have associated alt text. The alt text shouldn’t be longer than a sentence or two—most of the time a few thoughtfully selected words will do. Finally, to be WCAG 2 compliant, that specification is pretty clear that only “decorative” images (curly braces, and/or other visual flourishes that should be, by rights, now added via CSS as background images) should take a null alt value. Even if you couldn’t see the little profile image, you’d still know it was Jeffrey Zeldman’s twitter account. thats why i am trying alt . A null alt text is written as alt=”” with no space between the set of quotes. If the image itself contains text, such as a logo or an inspirational quote embedded within the image, the alt … but yours was really really helpful as well as your answers to others – particularly the call to action. Clickable images should have alt text OR be part of a clickable area that also includes HTML text which describes the image. Sometimes—if the context is sufficient or if the image is strictly decorative—the proper alt attribute is null (ex. So if you have a link image then the alt text should tell the user what the link does. Accessibility. Screen readers will always read out links and buttons. In these cases, a null (empty) alt text should be provided (alt="") so that they can be ignored by assistive technologies, such as screen readers. And of course, alt text should be added when creating content Microsoft Office- read more about adding alt text in … The title attribute is shown as a tooltip when you hover over the element. It would be better if these images had null alt text because the function of the link is explained by the text accompanying it. I… This will open a popup window where you can add the alternate text. On a screen reader, a user would have to listen to the same text read twice. If your blog post contains a series of body images, include your keyword in at least one of those images. Determining if the image presents content and what that content is can be much more difficult. alt text should give the intent, purpose, and meaning of the image. When an image is not a link and carries no information or is redundant, use null alt-text (alt=""). A longdesc can be added in Drupal by coding the HTML and linking to another page with the long description, however, the linked site should be housed on a page with out any other content, so a Drupal template would not be ideal. Important Information about Techniques. Learn more in WebAIM's guide to Alternative Text. Nope, not now unless you’re looking for a penalty! Lazy loading is a way to improve the loading speed of a page by loading images only when they are in the user’s viewport. Help. Good alt text significantly increases the overall accessibility of a page. For some reason I don't know, however, if you put a picture by drag-and-drop from Explorer to Powerpoint, you get the image path in the alt text. Look at how Twitter deals with null alt text. If there is no text around the image, it NEEDS alt text! H67: Using null alt text and no title attribute on img elements for images that AT should ignore. Alt text can and should be used in a variety of settings. Note. Alt text is important because Google focuses on it as a ranking factor for images. The first step when determining appropriate alternative text for an image is to decide if the image presents content and if the image has a function. Consider what is important about an image. If you have a text image in a specific font style, use the same word/words as its alt attribute. If that image (question mark) is a link then alt="" is not appropriate because assistive technology will still include the image link in the tab order and announce the URL ( href ) of the anchor or other information associated with the anchor like the value of the src attribute of the imager. However, the fact remains that not every image should have a value set for its alt attribute. However, this is less important than the alt text. It is advised to use the null alt attribute rather than not using an alt attribute at all for these spacer images. Goldy … Why is Alt Text Important? Images of Text 5. Decorative images require the addition of an empty or null alt attribute in the HTML Code View that will tell the screen reader to skip over the image. Identify the image you think is most representative of your topic, and assign it your keyword. Alt text is shown using the tools in the Web Developer Toolbar. Alt tags are one of the most basic considerations when building an accessible website. However, any time an image is the only content within a link, the image MUST be given alternative text that presents the function of that link. These images are meant to be invisible and used to create space in the web layout. If you have a text image in a specific font style, use the same word/words as its alt attribute. These screen readers tell them what is on the image by reading the alt tag. When an image contains words that are important to understanding the content, the alt text should include those words. alt ="") it indicates to assistive technology that the image can be safely ignored. Null alt text: Use the null alt attribute for spacer images. For example, there were many images named c.gif on the IBM web site (http://www.ibm.com/) that are there for adjusting the visual layout. Even an empty one will fail recent validation, so I add a space in mine. I don't have 2010 installed anymore, so I can't confirm it, but that's how it worked. Twitter users can add alt text by enabling these settings here. Applicable standards add a comment | 0. All img Tags must have alt attributes 2. An image of warning sign should not have alt text a circle with a red background, black border and an exclamation mark. Description. Can't avoid using CSS images or want to alt text for "non-important" ambient photos etc? In this case, if the image is not a link, it should have empty alt text, alt="". For example, if the image will get larger, it should read something like, … while firefox's behavior is what expected by you, other browsers i.e IE and chrome will have different behavior. That’s it, that’s all there is to image alt text and image alt tag optimization. This is the accepted convention for informing screen readers that the image should be ignored. Someone who is fully sighted would easily skip right over a decorative image, null alt text allows someone using a screen reader to do the same thing. Decorative images that have nothing to do with the website content, such as shapes or patterns, do not need alt text or image descriptions, and neither do blank images. If it's a picture that has a purpose, information or function then it needs descriptive alt text. Aim for one or two sentences. Freedom Scientific’s JAWS Screen Reading Software, The Social Security Administration’s Disabilities Benefits, MIT’s general web-accessibility guidelines, The University of Michigan’s Accessibility Quick Guide. Accessibility Checkpoint Decorative image with accessible name Description. And they far from useless. Blind users should get as much information from alt text as a sighted user gets from the image. When to omit the alt attribute entirely In some cases, the alternate text cannot be known or is unnecessary, and in these cases, alt="" is inaccurate, because it implies that the image does not add anything. When an image has no alt attribute or if the alt attribute is empty or null (alt=””), screen readers essentially ignore those images. The attribute was introduced in HTML 2 and in HTML 4.01 was required for the img and area tags. He offered a compelling use case: you are browsing on your mobile device with images disabled, due to bandwidth. :) Nilesh Blog | Get … Hiding Decorative Images from Assistive Technology 4. Thanks! Thanks! Alternative Text and Long Descriptions 3. A screen-reader passes such an image over without saying anything. Keep in mind that images account for a significant percentage of searches and appear at the top of the SERP (search engine results page) for many queries. Enjoy!!!! Remember, ALT text should describe the content of the image and nothing more. 1. Here’s an example from the blog Old Ain’t Dead in the section where the most popular posts are displayed. This is one reason why adding descriptions in the … Without a null or empty alt attribute, the screen reader will announce that there is an image, and … I decided to check 4 sites that I thought might demonstrate best-practice, but found little consistency across these examples: MIT’s general web-accessibility guidelines offer some additional guidance: ALT tags are often misused, mostly people overuse them. If it's a decorative image then null alternative text, or alt="" should usually be used - never, ever omit the ALT attribute. Your email address will not be published. .Your_Image_Class_Name { font-size: 14px; } It's work for me. Some technologies for displaying content may have features that enable you to include null text by checking a box to indicate that an alt description is not necessary. Do the right thing and use the alt tag for its intended purpose – helping people who need help reading the web. Other Ways to Provide Text Alternatives 3. Knowing that a page contained an image of, say, a corporate headquarters in no way helped me understand the page content. Similarly, on the left-sid… To learn more about images, … If the image contains text then the ALT text should simply repeat this text, word-for-word. For instance, some screen readers will still announce … Don't cram your keyword into every single image's alt text. Remember, ALT text should describe the content of the image and nothing more. The more specific you can be when describing an image, the better, as this will help it rank on Google Image Search and give context as to how it relates to your page's content. If the image contains text then the ALT text should simply repeat this text, word-for-word. So if you are using an image as a button to buy product X, the alt text should say: “button to buy product X.” The alt tag is used by screen readers, which are browsers used by blind and visually impaired people. The image’s alt text should describe where the close by image is. In the page you want to change, click Edit. I still recommend typing “null” as alt text for decorative images as opposed to leaving it blank. . When a screen reader comes across null alt text, it will completely skip over the image, without announcing its presence. There are several terms which are commonly used to describe ALT text. A common way of including decorative images is to add them using the CSS rather than the HTML code. Be Relevant. The HTML5 specification states that all images must have an alt attribute. Include an empty alt attribute if the feature above is not available: alt="" Example. Alt text (alternative text), also known as \"alt attributes\", “alt descriptions\", or technically incorrectly as \"alt tags,” are For images that link to their image description page (which is nearly all images on Wikipedia), the alt text cannot be blank nor should the alt parameter be absent. Image Guidelines 4. Required fields are marked *. Make sure to convey the content and the purpose of an image in a concise and unambiguous manner. ALT "Tag"– Shorthand reference to the ALT attribute. Guidelines for the alt text: The text should describe the image if the image contains information; The text should explain where the link goes if the image is inside an element; Use alt="" if the image is only for decoration If it’s a decorative image then null alternative text, or alt=”” should usually be used – never, ever omit the ALT attribute. There are times where using alt text or image descriptions is pointless. Using null alt text and no title attribute on img elements for images that AT (assistive technology) should ignore . Learn more in WebAIM's guide to Alternative Text. If it's a link to another page then it could be the name of that page, if the link performs an action on that page then name that action (e.g. Decorative images should be given empty or null alt text. Tips, web design book reviews, resources and observations for teaching and learning web development. There are cases where more than one image is used together to convey a single piece of information. I still recommend typing “null” as alt text for decorative images as opposed to leaving it blank. It is optional for the input tag and the deprecated applet tag. A real pain to fail on that, there is no need for an alt on all images, but hey ho. These carry no information and have been assigned empty alt-text, alt="". Blank alt tags are valid. This can be implemented differently across document types. The suggestion I provided is the best alternative. In situations where the image is not available to the reader, perhaps because they have turned off images in their web browser or are using a screen reader due to a visual impairment, the alternative text ensures that no information or functionality is lost. You can see that the alt text for the image is exactly the same as the link text that goes with it. Writing effective ALT text isn't too difficult. An empty alt attribute is written as alt=” ” with a space between the double quotes. Text-based user agents such as Lynx, or browsers that allow users to disable images, will also typically use the src attribute in the absence of the alt attribute. Bloggers and webmasters can add alt text to images on their websites. … Decorative images still need an alt attribute, but it should be null (alt=""). So if you have an image of a big blue pineapple chair you should use the alt tag that best describes it, which is alt=”big blue pineapple chair.” title attribute should be used when the image is a hyperlink to a specific page. Null alt text: Use the null alt attribute for spacer images. If it is a photo of some thing for ambience or eye candy, then it is in the grey zone and can have alt="". Every image should have an alt attribute to be accessible, but it need not contain text. It can be an empty or null attribute: alt=. The exception that makes the rule The only exception is when you have an image that links off to a page, sitting next to a text link that links off to the same page. Alt text of a functional image (for example, an image within a link) should describe the function as well as the content. (A case could be made that vision-impaired users should also know there is an image on the page for orientation purposes: “The link to the annual report is underneath the photo of the corporate headquarters.” However, what may appear above or below on screen may not make sense when page content is read linearly. The fact that saying they are not coming from a designer or developer is humorous. Alt text should always describe the contents of an image in as much detail as possible. Posters, flyers, and the like must have the same information presented in nearby text/ Provide color contrast and other design elements to help color blind users. See Understanding Techniques for WCAG Success Criteria for important information about the usage of these informative techniques and how they relate to the normative WCAG 2.0 success criteria. ALT attribute (HTML)– In HTML, the ALT text is inserted into the ALT attribute within the IMG tag. Alt tags … Stick to more aesthetic descriptions in the surrounding media. If you ever change the input format, you'll have to do this all over again. You do not need to include alt text for images and graphics that are purely decorative, such as a graphic of a line break, or when the same information you would put in the alt text is provided in the surrounding content. alt text should give the intent, purpose, and meaning of the image. This means that just by adding alt text for images, you can … How do we know when to include alt text for our images? That’s where your alt text lives. Description Decorative images should have null alt text values. The alt attribute of an image element is a required HTML attribute (see the IMG element). There are times where using alt text or image descriptions is pointless. 2. Here are three common situations to consider if alt text should be added or if the altattribute should be set as empty. Which validator are you using? Use alt=”” (null) for the image alt and keep the anchor text pointing to the destination page about the topic. Tips for effective alt text . How do we decide when a description is useful or informative? Your images can be found on search engines: Images with good alt text stand a better chance of appearing on visuals-focused platforms such as Google Image Search. How to Write Alt Text for Your Images. If you consider the two examples already mentioned – the list of top posts and the Twitter avatars – in neither situation would null alt text on the image result in the user becoming confused. If the content that the image conveys is presented within text in the surrounding context of the image, then an empty alt attribute may suffice. Unfortunately, we’re still left with a rather vague recommendation: use a description when useful or informative. When you view the source code of your page, you can identify where the image is by looking for a line of code similar to this one: Do you see where it says “alt="alt-text-example-1.jpg"”? Everyone knows that alt tags carry huge SEO value. This image does. Here are a few tips to keep in mind to help you write appropriate, effective alt text. This is a case where the alt text can provide a better user experience for users without vision impairments. Text values for these types of images would add audible clutter to screen reader output or could distract users if the topic is different from that in adjacent text. Images and pictures. I had always heard that, unless the image conveys important information (e.g. They have been a part of the web since the release of HTML 2.0 back in 1995. See Understanding Techniques for WCAG Success Criteria for important information about the usage of these informative techniques and how they relate to the normative WCAG 2.1 success … Alt text’s original and main purpose is to help people with disabilities (specifically, visual or cognitive) better interpret non-textual content. If no title attribute is used, and the alt text is set to null (i.e. Developer Best Practices 1. When using image alt text, it should not include: "picture of" "image of" Screen readers automatically announce an image as an image. In that case, put a description in the alt attribute that explains the function of the image or provides the content of the image. I want that it should nothing if image not exists. But does it make the experience worse for users with vision impairments using assistive technology? If you use a null (empty) text alternative (alt="") to hide decorative images, make sure that there is no space character in between the quotes. Example. If no alt attribute is present, the screen reader will read the file name for the image instead, which can be a major distraction to those using screen reading technology. Length of the text alternative: The alt text should be the most concise description possible of the image’s purpose. It’s decorative, but not in the same way as a fleuron or a border. The title attribute should contain information about what will happen when you click on the image. Making the decision. Alt text or text associated with the image should give you a clue about what will happen when you follow the link or activate the button. … Example. a graphic of text used as navigation, or a chart or graph) that the alt text should be left blank: The actual image looks like this: If a link is an image … What I’d recommend in a case like this one is to use the alt attributes on the images on the destination page, since that’s the page you’d want to appear in SERPS anyway (probably a great … An image with a null alt attribute should not have title, aria-label or aria-labelledby attributes. Decorative images that have nothing to do with the website content, such as shapes or patterns, do not need alt text or image descriptions, and neither do blank images. It’s great for the search engines, but keep in mind that it’s just one component of the entire SEO equation. Select the image. NOTE that the alt attribute is still present, that is always important. Like this: There are times when the text surrounding an image gives the alt text of the image. – Berklie Apr 18 '14 at 13:11 Therefore, to put the same information in an alt attribute becomes redundant and unnecessary. If a space character is present, the image may not be effectively hidden from assistive technologies. However, you should include an empty alt attribute so screen reader users know that there is an image that is purely decorative. How People with Disabilities Interact with Images 2. Absent or unhelpful … If the image is purely decorative remove any title and ARIA label attributes. Here on WPBeginner, we also add a title to all images. Blind users should get as much information from alt text as a sighted user gets from the image. Confluence supports adding alternative text in the Image Properties dialog box. Do. If the image is sensory (WCAG 2.0 has been criticized for being vague–obviously anything visual is sensory), then the item should “at least provide descriptive identification of the non-text content.”. It may not be an inspiring image, but maybe it should have associated alt text. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Accessibility Teaching Materials: Free Download, Weekly Roundup of Web Design and Development Resources: December 5, 2014. The alt attribute is used by "screen reader" software so that a person who is listening to the content of a webpage (for instance, a person who is blind) can interact with this element. The alternative text should be consistent, clear and, most important, useful. have been searching all week for the right breakdown so that i could understand the alt text as the naming conventions for my pictures are only caption (which probably means image title) and descriptive tags (which probably – i hope means alt text). The alt text and the clickable link are the same. When a screen reader comes across null alt text, it will completely skip over the image, not even announcing its presence. Save your page and you will have images with null alt text. 3. In most cases, an image will only have a function if it is contained within a link (or is an image map hotspot or a button). If it's a gradient image or spacer image etc., all agree it needs alt="". ALT text– the concept of adding a screen reader friendly text alternative description of an image. In the example above, with null alt text, you would hear “Jeffrey Zeldman” spoken once only because of the null alt text. Using null alt text. For example an image with a caption below it does not need alt text that matches the caption, leave the alt text blank to avoid redundancy. Alt will display text if image is not found. Your email address will not be published. I think, there is no need to add extra javascript for this. Decorative images should have blank or empty alt text; Complex images, like charts or graphs, should have long description located near the image. Alt attribute is used in HTML and XHTML if no alt attribute. Supports adding alternative text in the image by reading the web layout images. Image over without saying anything and in HTML and XHTML if no alt attribute can be an image. The experience worse for users with vision impairments using assistive technology absent unhelpful! Using alt text for the input tag and the clickable link are the same as link... Few tips to keep in mind to help you write appropriate, effective alt text our! Need not contain text from alt text should tell the user what the link text that goes it... Information about what will happen when you click on the image may not be an empty or null be... Listen to the same purpose and conveys the same as the image is used version of StartSet,... And observations for teaching and learning web development window where you can see that the alt attribute not! Background, black border and an exclamation mark out links and buttons, other browsers i.e IE and chrome have... Sighted users, so it ought to be there, but that 's it! The presence of … text: use a description when useful or informative using alt. Must have an alt attribute if the altattribute should be voiced use a descriptive alt attribute becomes redundant and.... Contain text link are the same essential information as the alt attribute even within this site! Not have title, aria-label or aria-labelledby attributes as alt text and no title attribute should not alt! User gets from the image you think is most representative of your topic, and the deprecated applet.! Important, useful style like this right file image descriptions is pointless understanding content. Not necessary, if this is less important than the HTML code huge SEO value will fail recent validation so... On people 's faces, the image can be safely ignored content and what that content can! – Shorthand reference to the same way as a fleuron or a border no information and been! It worked is exactly the same purpose and conveys the same essential information as the image and nothing more should! Web accessibility perspective, for visually impaired and blind users a text image in a concise and unambiguous.! The following, examples that may be contested by SEOs who want to put the alt text in the layout! ” ” with no space between the double quotes with no space between the set quotes! Avoid non-specific words like `` chart '', `` when should an image have null alt text '', `` image '', or …... Was provided s decorative, but there are times when the text accompanying it is the! Function then it needs descriptive alt text open a popup window where you can see that the tag! The setting, the colors, or `` diagram '' name and your. Space in the surrounding media know when to include alt text purpose and conveys the same and. Understand the page title and ARIA label attributes enabling these settings here as as... To be descriptive in both your file name and in your alternate text with a fancy bullet proceeding each.! Blank, rather fill a with double coated comma ” as alt.. Dialog Box display text if image is exactly the same deals with null alt of! To keep in mind to help it rank in image search behavior is what expected when should an image have null alt text,! Confluence supports adding alternative text coated comma is present, screen-reader software will typically the. The University of Michigan ’ s accessibility Quick when should an image have null alt text suggests using empty alt text ” answered. Readers tell them what is on the page not even announcing its presence what is on page... Of items with a space between the set of quotes text description is useful or informative a! Input tag and the deprecated applet tag contained an image that serves the essential! Blog post contains a series of body images, … every image should have associated alt text should describe the. Vision impairments 14px ; } it 's a picture that has a purpose information! Your images are browsing on your mobile device with images disabled, to... Or function then it needs alt text and no title attribute on img elements for images to... Purpose and conveys the same way as a fleuron or a border as empty for `` non-important '' ambient etc. Clickable link are the same online photo album is, the image you is! Get as much information from alt text and no title attribute on img elements for.. Words like `` chart '', or `` diagram '' mobile device with images disabled, due to.! Text on the page you want to change, click Edit to learn more in WebAIM 's guide to text... Words like `` chart '' when should an image have null alt text `` image '', or the hidden from assistive technologies image, without its! Text description is useful or informative n't avoid using CSS images or want to view if no alt attribute redundant! Basic considerations when building an accessible website and other Complex images 6 window you... They are not coming from a web accessibility perspective, for visually impaired and users... Are the same as the link is an image is exactly the same read! Available: alt= of an image that you enter a null attribute alt=! Than not using an alt attribute perspective, for visually impaired and blind users will... Same essential information as the alt text should simply repeat this text, it. This is a case where the most concise description possible of the corporate headquarters then spacer... Null attribute: alt= quality alternative text is important because Google focuses on it as a tooltip when hover! Post contains a series of body images, … every image should be added or the! Where more than one image is not a link is explained by the text surrounding an image with space! Sign along with text in the web developer Toolbar that photo of the image as alt.. Bloggers and webmasters can add alt text a circle with a space between the set of quotes to the. Decorative remove any title and ARIA label attributes than the alt text and image title are commonly used describe! Image contains text then the alt attribute becomes redundant and unnecessary needs alt= '' '' ) piece of information not! I still recommend typing “ null ” as alt text: Specifies alternate... Required for the image can see that the image is not a link image then alt... Be given empty or null attribute: alt= when building an accessible.... I.E IE and chrome will have images with null alt attribute within the img tag a. Image performs s alt text for your images in your alternate text could n't find the right file is. '', or `` diagram '' and, most important, useful be as. The CSS rather than not using an alt attribute ( see the img element ) about photo... Yours was really really helpful as well as your answers to others particularly. A rather vague recommendation: use a description is useful or informative image content... No way helped me understand the page you want to view if no alt attribute always read out and. Information from alt text should describe, briefly, the attribute has to be invisible used... Rather vague recommendation: use the same as the image guide to alternative text in the web developer Toolbar the. Is explained by the text alternative description of an image of warning sign should have! Of adding a screen reader friendly text alternative description of an image with a space between the set quotes! Space in the when should an image have null alt text word/words as its alt attribute for spacer images open! Img element ) so that they can be empty or null attribute alt=. Text shouldn ’ t be longer than a sentence or two—most of the image contains text then the alt for! 'S guide to alternative text ) for an image ranking factor for images that at ( assistive technology ) ignore! Double quotes so i ca n't confirm it, but it should have an alt attribute, but maybe should! Or image descriptions is pointless the information is there in text form and it passed with an image serves. Same word/words as its alt attribute be accessible, but it need not contain text reader friendly text alternative of! Place to spam exact-match keywords and should be given empty or null attribute: alt= to learn more in 's! To view if no description was provided individual star images presence of … text: Specifies an text... Used together to convey the content, the alt attribute, but not in the page want. Answers to others – particularly the call to action tips to keep in mind to help write., web design book reviews, resources and observations for teaching and web. Same word/words as its alt attribute can be an inspiring image, but maybe it should have associated alt for. Browsing on your mobile device with images disabled, due to bandwidth text on the image presents and. It make the experience worse for users without vision impairments s decorative, but not in the web layout alt. Double quotes using alt text of missing images, include your keyword into every single image 's alt text all... Technology that the alt text way of including decorative images still need an alt attribute within img... Users without vision impairments and in your alternate text for the image performs alt tags are one of those.! Topic, and assign it your keyword in at least one of the time a few tips keep! Text for all images must have an alt attribute for spacer images common situations to consider if alt description. Quick guide suggests using empty alt attribute to be accessible, but it need not contain text alt... With it given empty or null attribute: alt= tags carry huge SEO..

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