When adding images to your materials, it is important to ensure that images that convey important information have appropriate text alternatives or descriptions. Having a description of an image will ensure that they are accessible to everyone. Alternative text (alt text) and captions are the most commonly used methods to describe images. However, depending on the complexity or overall functionality of an image, other image description approaches may be more suitable.

For further explanation and to get you started, watch this short video from Section 508.gov – What is Alternative Text? (video 3 min).

Tips to remember:

• Don’t use an image alone to provide information.
• Providing alt text or a caption helps people with low or no vision understand images.
• Images used as decoration should be marked as decorative.