Alt Text Guidelines in Digital Publishing
[Approximate Reading Time : 4 mins]From personal blogs to comprehensive digital publishing companies, alt text is an essential part of website accessibility. While digital publishing uses many of the same guidelines as traditional publishing, there are a few key areas to distinguish digital accessibility. Here are a few essential guidelines for alt text for your digital publishing services.
Alt Text Defined
Short for alternative text, alt text is a component of HTML code that assists readers in comprehending images. Alt text appears if an image is unable to be properly viewed. This could happen for a number of reasons:
- Visually impaired readers
- Slow connection fails to load image
- Search engines require additional content for indexing
Alt text is an important way to provide alternative information, particularly if the image is essential to the overall narrative or marketing strategy.
Important Guidelines
In order to get the most out of your alt text, it’s important to follow these guidelines:
- Alt text should convey core information, not insignificant visual information.
- Use alt text for active images and images with important information.
- Only use an empty string alt text for decorative images.
The goal of alt text is to provide the same key information that an image provides. Whether it’s a graph, example or reference, use your alt text to give a short, general description about the supplemental nature of the image that your audience is unable to see.
Long alt text strings can be distracting and defeat the intended purpose. Instead, opt for single word or short phrase alt texts that accurately convey the necessary information. This will improve your overall website accessibility.
Learn More About Digital Publishing
Web content accessibility is a constantly shifting goal. If your digital publishing service needs a cutting-edge way to stay on top of the latest accessibility trends, contact us at Amnet. We provide comprehensive publishing assistance to streamline your digital services and promote improved website accessibility.
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