Note that the alt attribute is still present, even though it is empty. HTML: (two quotation marks after the alt=) In this case, it is best practice to use what is called the NULL alt text or empty alt text. ( Source of Aerial view of Central Park in New York image) Alt text for decorative imagesĭecorative images are images that serve no specific purpose, meaning that they are not meant to convey any meaning or important information. ( Source of King Henry VIII of England Image)Īs another example, the alt text below describes an image of a park: If this same image was used in a different context: an article focusing on royal fashion in the XX century England an appropriate alt text could be “King Henry VIII of England wearing a fur-trimmed hat and cape, bedazzled shirt and golden jewelry.” To create a more rich experience the alt text could be “King Henry VIII of England looking stern and wearing lavish royal clothing.”. Which additional content is it supporting? Which details are important in the image? The alt text should match the tone of voice of the accompanying content.Ĭontrary to popular belief, alt text does not need to be an objective description, it can convey nuances, details, and emotions if they are relevant to the user experience.įor example, if the image below of King Henry VIII of England were used in an article about the history of the Royal family of England, a decent alt text could simply describe the image as “alt=”King Henry VIII of England.”. To write a good alt text consider the context of the image. Well-written alt text can create a fulfilling and inclusive experience for people using assistive technology. If the image requires a lengthier description, it is better to describe the image in the content and provide a shorter alt text. Having long alt text will result in a poor user experience for those using screen readers. As a rule of thumb: avoid writing text alternatives longer than 100 characters. The alt text needs to describe the image as concisely as possible. If the content of a page would suffer if an image was removed, then that image is informative and therefore needs an alt text. Informative images are any images that add to the context of a page. Using correct grammar can enhance the experience for screen reader users: So an alternative text “Image of an apple” would be read aloud by a screen reader as “image, Image of an apple”. Screen readers automatically announce an image as an image. When using image alt text, it should not include: Siteimprove Tech Talk video: Demystifying accessible names This article is intended to outline best practice examples of image alt tags to help you implement these tags properly on your website. Image alternatives also benefit people who have poor or unstable internet, some cognitive disabilities and it can also improve the SEO of a website. Images alternatives add valuable information for low vision or blind screen reader users.
They serve as cues for people with visual impairments, including people with low vision, to orient themselves in the content.Īdding an image or a graphic to your content without using proper or empty alternative attributes (alt tags), can be extremely frustrating for people with visual impairments navigating your site through assistive technologies. Notice that Switch element or secondary tappable element is completely ignored.Images and graphics make content more pleasant and easier to understand for many people, in particular, those with cognitive and/or learning disabilities. Put any touchable element inside another button. React-native: Not Found Steps to reproduce Our concerns now are having to redesign our entire applications around this to accomodate the 17.0.2 Any touchable element within another one has the same issue.
This doesn't happen in native apps with the same design, but seems to be a massive bug on iOS react native. This is an example whereby the Switch is not accessible and is fully ignored by the screen reader.