An alt attribute is the text alternative to an image shown on a webpage when an image isn’t supplied or when a browser requests the text alternative.

Adding appropriate alt text to photos is one of the simplest methods to improve the accessibility of any website. However, it is not always simple to master and may potentially impair accessibility if done incorrectly.

The alt property does not necessarily have to explain the image’s contents. Take into consideration the image’s purpose and perspective and what might be valuable to an individual who cannot see it. The alt property is intended to replace the picture, often expressing its purpose. For example, a picture depicting a warning sign should use the alt text “Warning!” rather than “a triangle with a yellow backdrop, black border, and an exclamation mark”—unless the image’s goal is to demonstrate the warning signal truly looks like.

Benefits of Alt attributes 

Three key groups gain from alt attributes:

• Visitors with visual impairments 
• Search engines 
• Marketers

Visitors with Visual Impairment

Alt properties give a visual alternative to pictures for visually challenged users. This enables users to utilize text-to-speech applications to comprehend what photos deliver information.

The alt HTML property is used in HTML and XHTML documents to define alternative text (alt text) that will be produced if the component to which it has been connected can sometimes not be rendered.

For example, visually challenged persons are at an exclusion when viewing a website that uses photos for navigation since they lack knowledge of the website’s key categories. However, if pictures include alt properties, it is possible to determine the objective of these images.

Search Engines

The alt property assists search engines in determining the content of an image so that they may choose whether to include it in relevant search results. This increases the likelihood that photos with alt attributes will be detected.

Marketers

Using alt attributes with relevant photos is a smart practice considering alt attributes are much more likely to rank better in search results. Every day, Google Image Search receives just over 1 billion page visits. Businesses may capture a larger share of this traffic by optimizing the images.

More eyes on the images might lead to increased brand exposure if the images feature the brand. Furthermore, the higher the pictures rank in image search, the more probable users will navigate through digital images and visit the websites. As a result, optimizing images might lead to more traffic to the website.