Alt text

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In HTML code, alt text is the part of image tags and similar elements that should contain a reference to what is being expressed in the element shown. In addition to images, the alt attribute is also used for Java applets and input fields.

example 

<img src="koelner-dom.jpg" height="250" width="300" alt="Der Kölner Dom im Abendlicht.">

This line of code usually represents the image koelner-dom.jpg. If the image cannot be loaded or if the format is not supported by the web browser , the text "The Cologne Cathedral in the evening light." Is displayed instead . This is intended to convey the content of the image to visually impaired people or website visitors whose browser cannot display the image ( barrier-free Internet # text alternative to graphic information ). According to the official HTML specification, it is considered a deficiency to do without this alt text for images

Bus stop in Marburg: On the right in the picture a dark green H on a yellow circle with a green border and the name “Am Plan” on a white rectangle at the bus stop at the beginning of Barfüßerstrasse at the former Barfüßertor in Marburg. The paved road runs diagonally from the bottom left through the center of the picture to a lighter, blurred area. From here you can go straight through the traffic-calmed part of the upper town of Marburg to the town hall on the market square (= light, fuzzy area between smaller houses, a kind of illuminated pedestrian zone is indicated). At the bottom right, below the stop symbol H, a white guidance system for the blind across the pavement, which is brightly paved here, an attention field that extends from a small wall on the right to the curb and is intended to make it easier for blind people to get on the bus. On the left in the picture on the opposite side of the street, near a bright street lamp, a similar bus stop underneath a stone staircase up to a house entrance, not the Gehrensgässchen (on the left already outside the picture). Further to the center of the picture a half-timbered house with visible half-timbered beams, others are similarly designed but plastered, in between a modern house with a pointed gable. Further back in the row of houses there is a street cafe with tables under a small tree. Shot in the evening at blue hour, with a deep blue sky over the row of houses and some lighted windows in the houses in the upper town.
Bus stop in Marburg with guidance system for the blind

On the right, an image example in Wikipedia with "| alt = ..." in the source text for the photo.

In the meantime, this alt text is also considered a criterion in on- page search engine optimization , because the search engines also use this text to record the content of images or films.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ W3C : HTML 4.01 Specification: Introduction to objects, images, and applets , December 24, 1999
  2. ^ Accessibility - W3C

Web links