Alt Text

A text alternative for an image, commonly provided with the HTML `alt` attribute. It should communicate the image's purpose in its page context rather than list every visual detail. Informative images need equivalent meaning, functional images need the action or destination, decorative or redundant images usually need `alt=""`, and complex charts may need a longer explanation in nearby content.

Why it matters: Appropriate alt text lets people who use screen readers understand information or controls that would otherwise be visual, and it remains useful when an image cannot be displayed. Search systems can also use alt text with surrounding page context to understand images. Automated checks can find missing or empty attributes, but they cannot decide whether a description fits the image's purpose; review each image in context and avoid keyword stuffing or redundant phrases such as “image of.”