Research Guides: Locating and Using Images for Presentations and Coursework: Alt Text Image Descriptions

Resources for writing image alt text

"Shortened from “alternative text,” this is a short visual description that provides a general sense of the content of an image. It is structured as a sentence fragment that indicates the most important content of the image; it is approximately fifteen words and contains no period at the end unless it is a complete sentence."

-- Cooper Hewitt Guidelines for Image Description

New York Times Article: The Hidden Image Descriptions Making the Internet Accessible
This article describes how alt text works and the importance of providing it with your images. It includes a variety of resources for writing meaningful alt text that is accessible.
WebAIM: Alternative Text
"This article is focused on images, but its principles also apply to multimedia and other non-text content."
Cooper Hewitt Guidelines for Image Description
Provided are guidelines for writing accessible alt text. These guidelines include describing people. As stated in the guidelines:

The design tools here, like all creative resources, must continue to be tested in various environments and discussed broadly. These guidelines are created to be both comprehensive and responsive to provide guidance while maintaining fluidity to evolve. Paramount to this is the recognition that language is deeply rooted and understood through the context of the culture and society of its time. This practice must continue to be engaged with contemporary dialogues as image description inherently intersects with questions of race, gender, and identity.
Purdue access to the NY Times
WCAG 2.0
Web content accessibility guidelines.
Character Count Online
Want to know how many words you have used for your alt-text, here is a simple and quick tool.