I’ve found a mix of short and long descriptions, both of which have been helpful in understanding the image and its purpose. On the other hand, I find that The Atlantic has been leveling-up its alt text skills. I assume that Ted Lasso and soccer are involved, but there’s no more detail. Sometimes I can guess the context of an image.įor example, take the alt text “4741527001 ‘Ted Lasso’ used mix of CGI and acting to bring soccer to life NEWS 5:51 p.m. When JAWS or VoiceOver find no images, or only a few with meaningful alt text, I know I’m probably missing out on something. Often, developers go too far treating images as decorative. Some images are complex and need much more description, while others are decorative and don’t need alt text at all (also known as “empty alt”). In general, a short description - something that would be said in a sentence - works fine. Also known as alternative text or “alt text,” these short descriptions are part of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and help blind and low vision people access visual information. The alt attribute in HTML lets you write a description to images on the web.

So, let’s jump right in! Enhancing the Experience with Alt Text I hope that after reading this, you’ll better understand the roles that screen readers and accessible content play in the lives of blind people, and learn of a few easy ways you can improve the user experience. We weren’t able to answer all attendee questions during the webinar, so I’m continuing the discussion here.

Both Su and I are blind and have used screen readers since childhood. In January, I, along with Texas State University computer science student Su Park, demonstrated screen reader interactions as part of Knowbility’s Screen Readers in the Wild webinar. Yet the end-user experience is an often-neglected part of the development lifecycle, which means too much web content isn’t accessible to screen reader users.

Without screen readers that allow me to access information, it’s hard to imagine that I’d hold the professional roles I have today. As a communication specialist for Knowbility and a journalism lecturer at Cal State Long Beach, accessibility is not a nice-to-have.

Iphone accessibility screen reader