Content publishing
Draft alt text based on an image's purpose
Decide what an image contributes to its page before drafting alt text. A photograph may convey information, identify a link or serve as decoration. Describe the information or function a reader needs. For a purely decorative HTML image, specify an empty alt attribute: alt="".
A text to start with
I am adding an image to a page about [topic]. The image shows [what I can see]. The surrounding text says: [adjacent caption or paragraph]. The image's job on this page is [purpose]. Draft alt text that covers only the information a reader needs. Tell me if the image looks decorative here, and do not describe anything I have not listed.
Example request. Change the details to fit your situation.Image alt text worksheet
Page and location of image: [ ] Image file name: [ ] What is visible (only what you can confirm): [ ] Adjacent caption or text: [ ] Purpose on this page (informs, links, decorates): [ ] Information a reader needs from it: [ ] Proposed alt text: [ ] Decorative? Answer and reason: [ ] If decorative, empty alt attribute applied (alt=""): [ ] Details I am unsure about: [ ] Who confirms them: [ ]
Repeats and invented detail
Compare the draft with the surrounding text and remove redundant detail while keeping the image's purpose clear. Do not invent a person's mood, location or other facts absent from the supplied description. W3C's decision tree distinguishes informative, functional and decorative images. A linked image may need its destination or action described. A complex chart may need an explanation elsewhere on the page. If you mark an image decorative, check that doing so will not hide information or a control's purpose.
Ask another agent to check the result
Challenge each proposed alt text. Mark any phrase that repeats the adjacent caption or text, and any detail that was not in the description I supplied, quoting the phrase. Say whether the stated purpose justifies calling the image decorative, and what a reader would lose if it were omitted.
Confirm purpose, then publish text
Confirm each image's role with the page owner. For a decorative HTML image, use an empty alt attribute, alt="", and verify how the editor applies it. For informative images, read the alt text with the surrounding paragraph to check the meaning. Keep the final wording and the reason for the decision beside the file name.