# Are you making these five mistakes when writing alt text?

DevFeed: [Are you making these five mistakes when writing alt text?](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/are-you-making-these-five-mistakes-when-writing-alt-text-9370.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://a11yproject.com/posts/are-you-making-these-five-mistakes-when-writing-alt-text/>)

Author: Daniel Sage

Published: 2023-03-02T00:00:00Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [The A11Y Project](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/the-a11y-project.md>)

Topics: [alt text](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/alt-text.md>), [Accessibility](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/accessibility.md>), [Search engine optimization (SEO)](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/seo.md>), [User experience (UX)](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ux.md>), [HTML](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/html.md>)

Tags: [accessibility](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/accessibility.md>), [alt-text](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/alt-text.md>), [article](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/article.md>), [html](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/html.md>), [seo](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/seo.md>), [ux](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ux.md>), [writing](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/writing.md>)

## AI overview

This article examines common mistakes in writing alt text and explains why simply describing what an image looks like may not communicate its meaning or purpose. It introduces the distinction between an HTML alt attribute and the text placed inside it, including when an image should use an empty alt attribute. The discussion draws on accessibility, UX, SEO, and low-vision perspectives.

## Source excerpt

There are many benefits to writing alt text for images, especially from accessibility and legal standpoints. But most don't know how to write alt text well. I should know because, for an awful number of years, I was one. I first learned about alt text in high school while building websites. But my proper lesson began when I took the Udacity Digital Marketing Nanodegree course, which was also my first introduction to marketing. Screenshot from the SEO module of the Udacity Marketing Nanodegree course. In this module, I learned about building easy navigation site structures, title tags, breadcrumbs, and meta descriptions--all the good stuff. We also learned about writing alt text and its importance. Their overall advice? Describe what you see. I thought that I finally understood it. Sometimes it is simplicity that kills When you ask them, most experts' advice also boils down to: Describe what you see. And while it's valid advice and may seem simple, it's not. Take the Udacity example earlier: Is this suitable alt text? Source: Udacity Nanodegree Marketing Course. If you close your eyes and someone reads out the words "eating apple heart disease" to you, does that in any way help you make sense of what's in the image? What about this example? Source: Business Insider. Does it? The answer is a big no. I used to just describe what I saw Then two weeks ago, I watched Tommy Walker, an ex-Shopify senior content marketer and editor, critique an article for its alt text usage. A snippet from The Cutting Room Show, hosted by Tom Walker. Notice that the alt text does not communicate what the audit results are. Ironically, the article was arguing for accessibility. But it made the point clearer. And for the first time, it dawned on me that I've been writing alt text the wrong way. This got me curious, so I started researching: I read numerous UX and SEO blogs, I spoke with practitioners in those fields, and I chatted with some members of the low vision community. Here's what I le