Using Alternative Text

Alt Tags, Longdesc Tags, and D Links

Alternative text allow individuals with vision limitations to learn what is included on the screen in graphical format. There are several ways to add alternate text to your web page.

The alt tag (or alt attribute) can be applied to an image. When screen reading technology reaches the image, it will read the alt tag. When a sighted user moves the mouse over the image, the alt tag will show up in a yellow box.

The longdesc tag is a hyperlink within the image to a web page with a text description of the image. When screen reading technology reaches the image, it will read any alt tag, then the longdesc tag. The blind individual can then jump to the longer text-based web page with the description of the image. These links are not apparent to sighted users.

D links are hyperlinks which are placed just to the right of an image, and which lead to a web page with a text description of the image. The use of a lower case "d" for these hyperlinks lead to the nickname d-link. Any user can select the hyperlink.

Instructions for adding alternative text in FrontPage or Notepad.

Sample web pages with and without alternate text

These pages have links to audio recordings of the pages being read by screen reading technology. Simply click on the link below to go to a page, then click on the "Listen" link.

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