Alt text
The sentence that stands in for a photo when the photo cannot be seen.
What does Alt text mean?
A short written description of an image, stored with the image, so a screen reader or a failed download still tells the visitor what the picture was for.
Also called: alt attribute, alternative text
Who it is for
Someone using a screen reader hears the alt text instead of seeing the picture. Someone on a bad connection may see the text while the file loads. Search engines also read it as a hint about the image. The first audience is the person, not the hint.
Decorative flourishes, a line, a blank spacer, can have empty alt text so the screen reader skips them. A photo of a finished kitchen, a crew, or a dish should not be empty. If the picture is doing work, the sentence should say what work.
How to write one line
Name the real subject and stop. Cedar fence along a side yard is enough. Do not write a paragraph of towns and services into the field. Keyword stuffing in alt text reads as noise to a screen reader and looks like a trick to everyone else.
Match the claim to the photo. If the image is stock, do not describe it as your crew. If the image is a client's home, do not include their street. We never publish a street address on these pages, and alt text is still publishing.
Where it gets forgotten
Builders hide the field under a details toggle, so owners upload a gallery and leave every description blank. Logos get alt text that says logo, which is weaker than the business name. Icons that are actually buttons need a name of the action, not the word icon.
On a site we write, we fill alt text for the photos we place. If you send new photos later, tell us what they show in the same email. That note is one of the small content updates included in hosting, not a new strategy project.
An example
A flooring company uploaded twenty job photos named IMG_4402. The gallery looked fine to a sighted customer and said nothing to anyone else. Renaming the files is optional. Writing alt text such as white oak planks in a living room, before furniture is the part that makes the gallery usable.
Questions we get asked
Is alt text the same as a caption?
No. A caption is visible under the photo and can add a detail for everyone. Alt text is the accessible stand-in, usually unseen. You can use both. Do not paste the caption into alt text if the caption is a joke that makes no sense out loud.
Will alt text rank my photos in Google?
It helps Google understand the image. It is not a promise of an image-pack placement. Describe the photo honestly and move on.
