5 Common Alt Text Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Alt text is a short description of an image. It gives screen reader users the context of what's in a photo, graphic, or illustration. Without it, the screen reader will either skip the image or read the file name, for example, "image_1.jpeg". The word “Image_1.jpeg” tells the user nothing about what's actually there.

Developers and editors often struggle with knowing how to write alt text well. These are the most common mistakes and how to avoid them.

Mistake 1: Starting with "image of" or "photo of"

One of the most frequent alt text mistakes is beginning the description with "image of" or "photo of." If the element is in an <img> tag or because, screen readers will already announce that the element is an image. If an alt text begins with "image of," the user hears the word “image” twice: "Image. Image of a person in front of a computer."

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