Comments on: Alt Attributes Can Be Tricky

By: Stevie D

Stevie D — Wed, 28 May 2008 11:55:12 +0000

I completely agree that a lot of authors give far too many images "alt text".

The test I always use is "What would I want to be there if the image can't be shown?" - it sounds so simple, but it does help me to think about whether an image really needs alt-ing.

That's particularly true when the image simply repeats or reiterates nearby text - unless it's clickable and the text isn't (which is a bad idea), it shouldn't need alt text.

Where I sometimes struggle is with illustrative photos. I feel they ought to be alt-ed so that anyone who could view images knows there is something there to look at, but how to phrase the text … should it be "Photo of [whatever]"? A lot of guidelines say that you shouldn't include words like that, but do screen readers make it clear when they are reading alt text rather than normal text?

By: Nicolas

Nicolas — Sun, 25 May 2008 19:20:37 +0000

Hullo Taz, Yes, alt attribute's required, but it doesn't mean it shouldn't sometimes be empty ;)

Glad you enjoyed the post.

By: Tarique Naseem

Tarique Naseem — Sun, 25 May 2008 18:34:51 +0000

I am of course guilty of this myself; But then it was always drummed into me that an Alt text was always required.

But what you say makes complete sense, and I shall certainly treat Alt with a bit more respect :)

Dean also makes a great suggestion about turning off images occasionally to test the site's usability.

Great article.

By: Nicolas

Nicolas — Sun, 25 May 2008 05:12:40 +0000

Hey Dean! Keyword stuffing in the alt attribute was indeed common practice, but I think search engines have seen the light, and in the end, a site should be designed for human visitors, not bots :) Glad you've abandonned the technique :)

By: Dean Marshall

Dean Marshall — Sat, 24 May 2008 23:20:50 +0000

Dean holds his hand in the air and confesses: this is something that I have been guilty of in the past (and to a lesser extent perhaps still to this day).

It was a commonly promoted SEO technique six or seven years ago - when crawlers such as Google were coming to prominence. I know I read about it and adopted the technique and I realise I never - until now - consciously made the decision to abandon the technique.

This article is a handy reminder to those of us who are out of the habit - turn images off occasionally and see how your site looks and reads.