Using Descriptive Alt Tags for Disability Access
Published: 5th November 2006
Often referred to as ‘The Final Frontier’ by
civil rights activists, the internet is still a place
where disability access seems to be an optional extra
for many web designers.
Even descriptive alt tags, the very simplest way to make your web site more accessible
remain a relatively underused practice.
Worse still; since search engines read alt tags in much
the same way a text-only browser or screen-reader would
to determine a picture’s meaning, these tags have
now become a target for unethical web promotion operators
who stuff them with as many keywords as they can humanly
get away with, thus rendering them practically worthless
from a descriptive point of view.
And yet, since the major search engines are gradually
catching up with this particular tactic, proper use of
descriptive alt tags is far more likely to produce lasting
results within search engine listings than keyword stuffing
could ever hope to achieve.
But what exactly is meant by the term ‘Descriptive
Alt Tags’?
As page one of this article (‘Web
Accessibility’)
states, an alt tag is a textual description of an image’s
meaning or content.
If your site contains a picture of a kitten playing with
a toy such as the one to the right, the appropriate description
within your tag would be “kitten playing with toy”,
not simply “kitten” as this would not fully
convey the picture’s meaning.
By the same token, if an image is part of your marketing
strategy, there is nothing stopping you from conveying
its meaning to blind or partially sighted users whilst
at the same time putting in a keyword for promotional
purposes, within reason of course.
For example, if your site is selling used laptops and
an image depicts a Toshiba Satellite M40™ Notebook,
you can express the alt tag as follows:
alt=”Used Laptop: Toshiba Satellite M40”
By using descriptive alt tags in this manner, you are
able to communicate the picture’s meaning to disabled
web users whilst including a sensible keyword for promotional
purposes at the same time.
Ultimately there is nothing wrong with using alt tags
as part of your web promotion strategy, as long as you
don’t forget their primary function, which is disability
access.
The trick is finding the balance between creating a short,
concise description and including keywords in a sensible,
responsible manner.
Whilst disabled surfers may only account for a small
percentage of internet users, their needs must be considered
in all aspects of web design.
Recent developments in the Californian Courts (Article:
Accessible
Web Design, 15 Sep 06) have served to illustrate
that the Cavalier attitude which makes the internet one
of the last remaining places where discrimination against
disabled users is still commonplace cannot continue indefinitely.
Accessible Web Design is becoming a heated topic
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