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Should all images have alternative alt text?
Rule Description All images must have alternate text to convey their purpose and meaning to screen reader users.
Should you add alt text?
It’s a short written description of an image, which makes sense of that image when it can’t be viewed for some reason. Well-written alt text is important to your website’s accessibility, and its search engine optimisation (SEO).
Do you need alt text for background images?
CSS background images should not have alternative text if the image is truly a background image. Decorative (i.e removing it from the page causes no impact to the page’s meaning or function) CSS background images do not need additional markup.
Can I use punctuation in alt text?
Punctuation makes all text easier to understand and alt text is no exception. Screen readers pause for periods, semi-colons, commas, question marks, exclamation points, and paragraph endings. However, a screen reader may skip punctuation depending on the speed setting.
When do you need alt text for an image?
Clickable images should have alt text OR be part of a clickable area that also includes HTML text which describes the image. 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. If there is no text around the image, it NEEDS alt text!
What are some use cases for alt text?
People who have very slow internet connections – particularly in developing countries – also have a use case for alt text. With alt text, they have the option to turn off images so that pages load faster, without losing the information that the important images convey.
When to use the alt attribute in HTML?
With this in mind, whether you’re working with WordPress, React, or plain HTML, remember to always include the alt attribute when including an image in code. Adding alt text to an image when writing plain HTML is a matter of adding the alt attribute to an img element.
Do you use punctuation in alt text description?
You may have noticed the use of punctuation in the alt text description of the image above. Does this make a difference in how the image description is conveyed to someone using a screen reader? The simple answer is, yes.