Robbie Crow LinkedIn post alt text
What’s the difference between alt text and image descriptions?
Alt text is typically a short summary of a picture that gives screen reader users an idea of what’s being displayed. It’s not normally viewable to the naked eye (unless you look at code) and is sometimes restricted by character limits.
Image descriptions, on the other hand, are longer descriptive pieces of text that accompany an image. They highlight the important aspects of an image that someone might need to know, as well as the nuanced detail that might add context. They are usually written directly into webpages or posts so that everyone can see them and make use of them.
If you can, you should always include both. If you’re restricted by text limits in your writing, the second best option is to post them in a pinned comment under your post. Priority ahould always be given to including them in the main text body, though.
An example of alt text might be “a picture of a bus timetable”, whereas an image description might say “a bus time table placed on a bus stop. The timetable shows that busses stop 3 times an hour at 05, 25 and 55 minutes past the hour and stop at all stopping points between Falkirk and Glasgow”.
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