440:
490:. This makes the page more navigable for users of screen readers or non-graphical browsers by skipping over images that do not convey any meaning. If no alt attribute has been supplied, then browsers that cannot display the image will not overlook the image but instead will read or display the URL or another identifying marker. This creates ambiguity since the user is generally unable to determine from a bare reading of a URL if the image is relevant to the text or if it is a purely decorative element of the webpage. A 2021
432:
456:
being a literal description of the image itself. For example, an alt attribute for an image of an institution's logo should convey that it is the institution's logo rather than describing details of what the logo looks like. The alt attribute is intended to be used for short and concise descriptions of the image. Longer descriptions can be given using the longdesc attribute, which provides more detailed information and complements but does not replace the alt attribute.
455:
The text in the alt attribute is used to replace the image when the image cannot be loaded, without changing the intended meaning of the page's contents. The W3C's web content accessibility guidelines state that the alt attribute is used to convey the meaning and intent of the image, rather than
516:
ruled that the website had discriminated against him for failing to conform to accessibility standards that enable blind individuals to navigate websites. During the lawsuit, the
Australian commonwealth, state and territory governments issued a joint statement through the
471:). A graphical browser typically will display only the image, and will display the alt text only if the user views the image's properties, or has configured the browser not to display images, or if the browser was unable to retrieve or to decode the image.
353:(W3C), recommends that every image displayed through HTML have an alt attribute, though the alt attribute does not need to contain text. The lack of proper alt attributes on website images has led to several accessibility-related lawsuits.
356:
The alt attribute is used to increase accessibility and user friendliness, including for blind internet users who rely on special software for web browsing. The use of the alt attribute for images displayed within HTML is part of W3C's
478:, to search for and display relevant images that are used on websites in search results. For non-image search results, the text within the alt attribute is read by search engines the same way that regular text on the page is read.
485:
rather than in the HTML markup. If decorative images are rendered using HTML that do not add to the content and provide no additional information, then the W3C recommends that a blank alt attribute be included in the form of
871:
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659:
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to misuse the alt attribute when they wished to display tooltips containing additional information about images, instead of using the title attribute that was intended for that use. As of
504:
1318:
518:
542:
violated the ADA because the images did not use alt attributes. This lawsuit set a legal precedent in the United States for website accessibility and compliance with the ADA.
1060:
935:
494:
audit showed that 27% of alt text attributes audited were empty, despite the fact that the majority of those images were non-decorative informational images.
861:
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509:
1291:
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807:
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133:
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In the United States, there have been several high-profile lawsuits involving the lack of alt attributes on images that cite a violation of the
965:
1313:
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The use of descriptions in the alt attribute improves search engine optimization and allows image-specific search engines, such as
259:
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An example of alt attribute text being displayed in place of an unavailable image, with the underlying HTML displayed below it
304:
1482:
997:
358:
1402:
529:
700:
513:
1348:"What retailers need to understand about website inaccessibility and disabled consumers: Challenges and opportunities"
925:
512:
because their website www.olympics.com was not accessible to him because of the lack of alt attributes on images. The
637:
563:
525:
389:
The attribute was first introduced in the HTML 1.2 draft in 1993 to provide support for text-based browsers. In
1128:
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that cannot be rendered. The alt attribute is used for short descriptions, with longer descriptions using the
992:
894:
264:
221:
160:
1157:"A Longitudinal Study of Website Accessibility: Have Social Work Education Websites Become More Accessible?"
502:
There have been many lawsuits over website accessibility and the lack of proper alt attributes on websites.
1433:
866:
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read the alt attribute in place of the image. The text within the alt attribute substitutes the image when
1281:
460:
128:
797:
1542:
378:
481:
The W3C recommends that images that convey no information, but are purely decorative, be specified in
467:
will display the alt text instead of the image (or will display the value attribute if the image is a
1117:"Monitoring for Accessibility and University Websites: Meeting the Needs of People with Disabilities"
1019:
834:
632:
600:
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350:
216:
957:
1323:
1244:
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767:
366:
118:
1463:
Proceedings of the 41st Annual Hawaii
International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS 2008)
1217:
Tait, Alex; Davis, Scott; Niyi-Awosusi, Olu; Wilhelm, Gary; Dixon, Carlie (30 November 2021).
393:, which was released in 1999, the attribute was made to be a requirement for the img and area
374:
150:
829:
596:
1458:"Web Accessibility for the Blind: Corporate Social Responsibility or Litigation Avoidance?"
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72:
8:
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567:
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1187:
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gives the lack of alt attributes as an example of a barrier to website accessibility.
423:, released in 2009, alt attributes no longer render as tooltips on Internet Explorer.
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that they were adopting the W3C's accessibility guidelines for all .gov.au websites.
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will read out the alt text in place of the image. A text-based web browser such as
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50:
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1526:
1426:"Websites for the Blind: Is This The Next 'Year 2000 Compliant' Requirement?"
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664:
451:, displaying the text of the alt attribute in orange in place of the images
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30:
1319:
Australian
Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy
627:
1517:
1345:
Cohen, Alex H.; Fresneda, Jorge E.; Anderson, Rolph E. (September 2020).
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67:
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Alternative text that appears when a HTML element cannot be rendered
1314:"Seventh Ministerial meeting of the Online Council – Media release"
394:
1429:
802:
768:"What's New in Internet Explorer 8 – Accessibility and ARIA"
408:
628:"Use the alt attribute to describe the function of each visual"
519:
Department of
Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy
398:
228:
204:
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was a 2000 lawsuit in which a blind man in
Australia sued the
568:"Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) Internet Draft version 1.2"
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199:
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187:
62:
35:
1216:
505:
Maguire v Sydney
Organising Committee for the Olympic Games
444:
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21:
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165:
397:. It is optional for the input tag and the deprecated
1344:
1154:
Curl, Angela L.; Bowers, Deborah D. (23 April 2009).
558:
1456:
1346:
1155:
895:"Google Explains Alt Text for Logos & Buttons"
538:was a 2006 class-action lawsuit that alleged that
1121:Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability
1053:"Google: Alt Text Only A Factor For Image Search"
510:Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games
1524:
535:National Federation of the Blind v. Target Corp.
303:For the use of alt attributes in Knowledge, see
1115:Solovieva, Tatiana I.; Bock, Jeremy M. (2014).
626:Hazaël-Massieux, Dominique (20 November 2002).
625:
415:(W3C)'s HTML standards. This behavior led many
923:
660:"Why doesn't Mozilla display my alt tooltips?"
619:
1114:
407:and earlier render text in alt attributes as
284:
1110:
1108:
1514:Mini-FAQ about the alternate text of images
1424:Daniels, Linda Markus (13 September 2006).
1395:"Guidance on Web Accessibility and the ADA"
752:: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
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337:) that is to be displayed in place of an
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1538:Internet properties established in 1995
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1282:"Website 'discriminated against blind'"
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1162:Journal of Technology in Human Services
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917:
854:
822:
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1141:Education Resources Information Center
924:Hofmann, Frank; Beckert, Axel (2021).
892:
830:"Using alt attributes on img elements"
684:
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411:text, which is not compliant with the
1454:
1448:
1338:
1306:
1242:
1236:
778:from the original on 28 February 2009
607:from the original on 6 September 2008
345:. The standards organization for the
305:Knowledge:Alternative text for images
1405:from the original on 13 October 2022
1257:from the original on 14 October 2022
1198:from the original on 14 October 2022
1147:
1131:from the original on 14 October 2022
1032:from the original on 14 October 2022
1000:from the original on 12 October 2022
968:from the original on 4 February 2019
938:from the original on 15 October 2022
926:"Text Art: Rendering images as text"
905:from the original on 3 November 2022
359:Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
1508:Appropriate Use of Alternative Text
1465:. Waikoloa, HI: IEEE. p. 284.
1294:from the original on 23 August 2016
1280:Barkham, Patrick (30 August 2000).
1243:White, Caroline (2 November 2000).
1219:"Part II Chapter 9 – Accessibility"
1075:
1051:Southern, Matt G. (22 March 2022).
810:from the original on 22 August 2022
703:from the original on 8 January 2022
690:
574:from the original on 3 January 2017
530:United States Department of Justice
13:
1063:from the original on 22 April 2022
652:
640:from the original on 20 March 2022
514:Australian Human Rights Commission
14:
1554:
1501:
1485:from the original on 8 March 2021
893:Montti, Roger (1 November 2022).
874:from the original on 22 July 2022
734:from the original on 26 July 2009
597:"13 Objects, Images, and Applets"
329:documents to specify alternative
1455:Frank, Jonathan (January 2008).
1093:from the original on 2 July 2017
842:from the original on 16 May 2022
722:W3C HTML WG (24 December 1999).
886:
526:Americans with Disabilities Act
1322:. 30 June 2000. Archived from
1223:Web Almanac by HTTParchive.org
1020:"Google Images best practices"
760:
715:
373:as text and makes images more
1:
993:Pennsylvania State University
545:
265:Comparison of browser engines
867:University of South Carolina
7:
1353:Journal of Consumer Affairs
1083:"Embedded content – HTML 5"
724:"7.4.3 The title attribute"
570:. IETF IIIR Working Group.
497:
10:
1559:
693:"Use of ALT texts in IMGs"
445:Knowledge article for Wolf
384:
379:search engine optimization
302:
1174:10.1080/15228830902749229
962:lynx.invisible-island.net
958:"Lynx Users Guide v2.8.9"
835:World Wide Web Consortium
633:World Wide Web Consortium
601:World Wide Web Consortium
413:World Wide Web Consortium
351:World Wide Web Consortium
260:Document markup languages
459:A screen reader such as
426:
728:HTML 4.01 Specification
367:text-based web browsers
1471:10.1109/HICSS.2008.497
798:"HTMLImageElement.alt"
452:
436:
1057:Search Engine Journal
1028:. 20 September 2022.
899:Search Engine Journal
442:
434:
151:Document Object Model
1436:on 16 September 2008
1245:"Battle to be equal"
603:. 24 December 1999.
156:Browser Object Model
421:Internet Explorer 8
405:Internet Explorer 7
129:Character encodings
1365:10.1111/joca.12307
996:. 6 October 2014.
672:on 15 October 2008
453:
437:
343:longdesc attribute
1543:Web accessibility
1401:. 18 March 2022.
1025:Google Developers
492:Google Lighthouse
377:, which improves
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668:. Archived from
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623:
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584:
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564:Connolly, Daniel
560:Berners-Lee, Tim
556:
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469:clickable button
449:Lynx web browser
375:machine-readable
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244:Rendering engine
134:named characters
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862:"Logo Alt Text"
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1359:(3): 854–889.
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1267:Newspapers.com
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1487:. Retrieved
1462:
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1438:. Retrieved
1434:the original
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1407:. Retrieved
1398:
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1340:
1328:. Retrieved
1324:the original
1317:
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1296:. Retrieved
1287:The Guardian
1285:
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1265:– via
1259:. Retrieved
1250:The Guardian
1248:
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1226:. Retrieved
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670:the original
665:MDN Web Docs
663:
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578:18 September
576:. Retrieved
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1510:from WebAIM
528:(ADA). The
371:copy-pasted
252:Comparisons
239:Web storage
234:Quirks mode
173:Font family
124:HTML editor
1527:Categories
1489:14 October
1440:14 October
1409:14 October
1330:14 October
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