Why Alt Text Matters for Accessibility & SEO
Alt Text Checker is a free online tool that checks text alternatives for non-text elements with WCAG compliance. The application scans a webpage, finds non-text elements without text alternatives, and creates a report indicating a list of all deficiencies with their description and code fragments in which the issue was found.
From a web accessibility perspective, alt text promotes inclusivity by describing non-text content such as images, graphs, charts, emojis, buttons, links, etc. Screen readers used by people with visual impairments rely on alt text to convey the meaning and context of these elements, allowing them to understand the content entirely. These users need descriptive alt text to get important information, making their online experience more accessible. Additionally, internet accessibility is good for SEO. Google and other search engines use alt texts to improve their understanding of a website's content, which will lead to higher rankings. To summarize, proper implementation of alt text enhances website accessibility, expands audience reach, and has a positive impact on SEO, making it a critical element for inclusive web presence.
What Is Being Checked?
Along with checking the use of alt attributes for `img` elements (
WCAG 2.1 Technique H37), the application also checks the following:
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H2 Combining adjacent image and text links for the same resource.
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H24 Providing text alternatives for the `area` elements of image maps.
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H35 Providing text alternatives on `applet` elements.
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H36 Using alt attributes on images used as submit buttons.
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H67Using null alt text and no title attribute on `img` elements for images that assistive technology should ignore.
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H86 Providing text alternatives for emojis, emoticons, ASCII art, and leetspea.
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G197 Using labels, names, and text alternatives consistently for content that has the same functionality.
- and more.