Terms such as "alt attribute" or "alt tag" give many hobby gardeners a headache. But don't worry, it's not that complicated! The website gardeners explain what it all means: "Alt" stands for alternative; the German word "Attribut" or "tag" means addition. This refers to a supplementary image description for photos uploaded to a website.
Why is a text description needed for images?
As a last resort when the picture is broken
The alternative text for images is displayed if an uploaded image cannot be displayed for technical reasons. A textual image description is then displayed instead of the image.
In addition, there are two other important advantages that help your website to be better reached by other people:
Assistance for people with visual impairments
Blind or visually impaired people often use special programs that read websites aloud. Instead of the images, the program reads the alternative texts to them. This enables people with visual impairments to understand images even without seeing them.
Better hits in search engines such as Google, Bing & Co
Alternative texts help websites to be found better in search engines. This has to do with the way in which such hit lists are created. Providers such as Google use special programs that automatically search website content for keywords. These programs do not recognize images and therefore fall back on the textual image description.
Tips for creating alternative texts
- Describe in simple words what can be seen in the picture
- Use clear language without foreign words
- Imagine you're talking to someone on the phone who can't see your computer and you want to briefly tell them what you're seeing
- Remain neutral so that others can form their own opinion
- Perfect for search engines: If possible, include a keyword under which you would like to be found
- Length: one to two short sentences
Example: Here you enter the alternative text in the WordPress content management system:
