For a better experience, click the Compatibility Mode icon above to turn off Compatibility Mode, which is only for viewing older websites.

Alt Text for Images

Images displayed on Drexel websites must contain alternative text, or "alt text," in accordance to federal Section 508 Accessibility compliance. Alt text is a short description that describes an image to visually-impaired users accessing a site through a screen reader.

Guidelines

  • General images: alt text should convey the basic concept represented by the image. Examples would include a simple description of its topical content, e.g., "Interior of Main Building" ( Example); or an action, e.g., "President Fry being interviewed" ( Example).
  • Images with text: if words are included as part of an image, consider whether being able to read that text effects a user's ability to understand the concept represented.
    • An image being used as a header — in which the text is providing important information — should have alt text that repeats the graphic text; e.g., "Drexel University In the News" ( Example).
    • If the words that are part of image are not important to its meaning, e.g., a magazine cover, a description would be more appropriate as the alt text: "Drexel Magazine Fall 2011 cover" ( Example).
  • Decorative images: images that are purely decorative ( Example) that contain no informative value should have a single "space" (space bar) for alt text. This practice allows a screen reader to skip over an image as if it doesn't exist; otherwise, an image will be detected with a missing description, which will frustrate the user.

Adding Alt Text

Adding alt text to images in Sitecore is easy!