Image alt tag descriptions are essential for a website because they provide contextual information about the images on the page. Alt tags are HTML attributes that provide alternative text descriptions of images – they are read by screen readers and other assistive technologies used by visually impaired users to understand the content of a web page. There are several reasons why image alt tags are important:
- Improving accessibility: Alt tags provide essential information about images that otherwise are not visible to people with visual disabilities. By providing accurate and descriptive alt tags, website owners can ensure their site is more accessible to all users.
- Boosting SEO: Search engines use alt tags to understand the content of images on a web page and rank them in image search results. Having descriptive and relevant alt tags can improve the website’s search engine visibility and ranking.
- Enhancing user experience: Alt tags provide descriptive information about images, enriching the user’s experience by providing additional context and information. This can help users better understand the purpose of an image and also help to break up content to make it easier to read.
- Meeting web standards: The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) requires that images on web pages have alternative text descriptions for accessibility purposes. Failing to provide alt tags on images can result in non-compliance with web accessibility and usability guidelines and regulations.
In summary, using descriptive and accurate alt tags on images is essential to ensure accessibility, usability, and search engine optimization. By providing helpful information about images, website owners can improve the overall quality and usability of their website for all users.