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Writing good alt text can be a challenge.
In my day job as an accessibility consultant, I describe writing alt text as an art rather than a science.
While there are a few guiding principles based off accessibility best practices, there's also a lot of wiggle room.
The following tips are based off a combination of best practices and my own personal taste:
• **Be concise**.
Screen readers take time to read things.
How long depends on that person's screen reader settings.
An experienced screen reader user like myself may have theirs set to talk really fast, whereas a novice user is likely to have theirs set at a more conversational pace.
• **Don't describe every detail**.
Remember back in elementary school when you'd be asked to read something and determine what the main idea of the passage was?
Do something similar with your images and describe what you'd like someone to take from it.
• **Avoid redundancies**.
If something's in the body of your post, it probably doesn't need to be in the alt text.
Additionally, remember how screen readers work.
Since they will identify an item as a graphic when they encounter it, you don't need to say so in the alt text.
It's fine to say something like "Picture shows" if you're describing an image in nearby text content, but it's just repetitive when it's in the alt text itself.
Writing good alt text can be a challenge and may seem hard at first.
Like anything else, though, it gets easier with practice.
Over time you will figure out what works best for you.
Alt Text and Social Media
Justin Yarbrough
Eigengrau
ˈaɪɡənɡɹaʊ
*Noun*
• The dark gray color seen by the eyes in perfect darkness as a result of signals from the optic nerves.
**Example Sentences**
“Before my eyes adjusted to the dark, all I could see was eigengrau.”
“Henry awoke in the eigengrau of total darkness, so he quickly turned on his lamp.”
“The darkness of the sub-basement seemed eigengrau to my eyes.”
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**Word Origin**
German, mid-20th century
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**Why this word?**
“Eigengrau” is a German loanword used to describe the specific color of total darkness as perceived by human eyes.
Rather than black, the color that human optic nerves discern in pure darkness is a dark gray, which is why eigengrau is sometimes called “brain gray.”
Eigengrau is close to what might be called “charcoal gray,” but the word’s German roots specify that this is a gray created inside the viewer’s brain.
In German, “eigengrau” translates to “own gray,” or “intrinsic gray,” suggesting the shade might shift, depending on the viewer’s perception.
“I’m sick of writing everything in numbered order,” Tom said, listlessly
For Many Years I’ve Been Collecting Tom Swifties and Croakers...
Adam Sharp
...catch up on these, and many more highlights
Readwise