Image Alt Text Checker

Instructions Enter a full website URL to check the page for any missing alt text. Copy your URL as it reads in the address bar to be sure you are getting the http:// or https://.

What is the image alt text

Alt text is short for alternative text and describes the appearance of HTML elements like images for search engines and screen readers. Adding alt text to your images is the easiest way to make your website more accessible.

Why is the image alt text important

1. Adding alternative text improves page accessibility for visually impaired users using screen readers. The text enables the users screen reader to describe the image and helps them understand page context.

2. If there are broken images on the page the alt text will be displayed in place of an image.

3. Alt text provide search engine crawlers better image context to help them to index an image properly.

Alt text example

<img src="house-plant.jpg" alt="House plant on a window sill.">

How to write good alt text

Writing good alt text it not the easy thing to master. If done poorly it can be misleading or meaningless to a user. In which case no alt text at all would be better.

1. Be specific and describe what you see. A good example is to describe the image how you would briefly over the phone.

2. Use as few words as possible and try to limit it to one sentence or 125 characters.

3. Never start the sentence with Image of... or picture of...

4. Use text that if part of the image.

5. Do add text to images that are decorative like page dividers or brand graphics.

6. If the image has a caption that is describing the it don't use an alt text as it will be repeating the caption.