# Alt text

> The text alternative on an image — what screen readers announce and what image search indexes.

The `alt` attribute describes an image for anyone who cannot see it: screen reader users, slow connections where the image never loads, and search engines indexing its content. It is a WCAG requirement and an image-SEO input at once. The craft is describing the information, not the pixels: 'bar chart showing orders doubling after launch' serves the reader; 'chart.png' serves nobody.

Decorative images get an empty `alt=""` — present but ignored — because announcing 'image' with no content is worse than silence. The most common real-world failures are missing alt entirely, filenames-as-alt ('IMG_4032'), and keyword stuffing, which turns an accessibility feature into spam.

## Related terms

- https://dfieldsolutions.com/en/glossary/wcag.md
- https://dfieldsolutions.com/en/glossary/aria.md
- https://dfieldsolutions.com/en/glossary/semantic-html.md
- https://dfieldsolutions.com/en/glossary/lighthouse.md

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Source: https://dfieldsolutions.com/en/glossary/alt-text
DField Solutions — Dunakeszi, Hungary — dezso@dfieldsolutions.com
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