Basic Accessibility Practices

Ensuring that our website is accessible to all users is a fundamental aspect of modern web development. Accessibility not only benefits users with disabilities but also enhances the overall user experience and broadens our audience reach. In this lesson, we’ll explore two key practices to improve accessibility: using alt attributes for images and properly labeling form elements for screen readers.

Proper use of alt attributes for images

The alt attribute in the <img> tag provides alternative text descriptions for images. This text is crucial for users who rely on screen readers or have images disabled in their browsers.

Why is the altattribute important?

• Accessibility: Screen readers read the alt text aloud, allowing visually impaired users to understand the content and purpose of images.

• Fallback content: If an image fails to load, the alt text appears in its place, informing users about what was intended to be displayed.

• SEO benefits: Search engines index alt text, which can improve our site’s search rankings.

How to write effective alttext

• Be descriptive: Clearly describe the image content and its purpose in the context.

• Keep it concise: Aim for a brief description, typically no more than a few words or a short sentence.

• Avoid redundancy: Do not include phrases like “image of” or “picture of” since screen readers already announce an image is present.

Let’s look at an example below.