WebAIR

(if yes) Do the text alternatives adequately describe the images? (LNK14)

Why is this important?

It is relatively easy to provide alternative text, but more difficult to provide accurate and appropriate alternative text. The ultimate aim is to provide alternative text that serves the same purpose and presents the same information as the image. For images that convey a lot of information (such as a graph or chart), this may require a very detailed description. For images that are merely decorative, such as a visual flourish or a bullet point without any information, a description of the imagine is not appropriate, and the alt attribute can be left empty. Some images (such as a route map) may have a particular purpose and it is important to convey that purpose (such as describing the indicated route on the map) rather than literally describing the image.

How to fix the problem

Automatic validation tools will only detect the presence or absence of an alt attribute. They will not help you determine whether the alternative text description is accurate or appropriate. Therefore, in writing alternative text, make sure the description of the image is succinct and clear. Think about what is useful for a non-sighted person to know about the image. Try disabling images in the browser and viewing the text alternative instead. Does the text convey the same information? Is anything lost?

Example

No example is available.

Further Information

  1. http://www.w3.org/community/webed/wiki/Images_in_HTML
  2. http://webaim.org/techniques/alttext/