Alternative text/Alt text

To enable people who are blind to understand images on the internet or in documents, they need what is known as alternative text. This text describes the information conveyed by the image – which is why it is also referred to as an image description. They are not visible to sighted people, as they are stored in the background.

People with visual impairments use special programmes, known as screen readers, which read out the content on the screen. When an image is detected, the screen reader reads out the corresponding alternative text.

Unlike image captions, which often provide supplementary information, alternative text focuses exclusively on describing the visible content of the image as objectively as possible.