For people who cannot see pictures well and rely on screen readers to navigate on the computer, it’s important to program the pictures in such a way that the screen reader can explain the content of the pictures aloud.
In order to make images accessible to screen reader users, you must add alternative text descriptions, commonly known as “alt text.” Alt text should be a concise description of the relevant information in the image. Try not to make alt text longer than two sentences. The shorter the better.
To create alt text, follow these instructions.
For decorative images that don’t have significant meaning in relation to the document, don’t write a description. Instead, click the checkbox that says “mark as decorative.” This way, when the screen reader encounters this image, it will skip over it, preventing “verbal clutter” for the listener to weed through.
Here are some extra tips on writing quality alt text.
Head over to the Keep Calm and Check Accessibility Moodle page to complete the Week 4 challenge and get this week’s clue!