If you use images on your web page, you have to add an alternative
description! And not just any text either.
If you use images on your web page, you have to add an alternative
description! And not just any text either.
Have a look at the example image. That's a real world example taken from a search result at CNN.com.
It shows three ads. Well it would show three ads but since images were turned off, all I got was the alt text. Now which ad would you click?
The first image commands me to "Click here for more info!" I never click on any ad telling me to "Click here!". Why would I?
The second example is just ridiculous: They are using alt="Alt Text". Can you say stupid?
Now look at the third ad. At first, I thought they were using an alt tag but apparently if you look at the next image, they were using no alt tag at all. Still they will get a lot more attention because below the images they use a standard link that you can click. It tells you what to expect and the company name. Even if I don't click the ad, I might still recall the company name and think, hey it's been a while since you last checked their stuff.
So even if the third ad doesn't have a alt tag on the small company logo, it will probably be the most successful. And the one with the lowest overhead.
One thing you should avoid for all images except little design elements like left_top_corner.gif is to use alt="". If you use this for anything other than design elements, you shouldn't display the image either!
Search engines are another very important reason for using alt tags, titles on images and a descriptive file name. They use all this to index the content of your site.
Of course you should always use width and height attributes with images.
So the next time you put an image on any web page, make sure to use a descriptive file name, an alt tag that represents and explains the image, and a title that will show up as tool tip if the user hovers over the image.
Read Use of ALT texts in IMGs for in-depth information on the topic.
5 April 2002
Martin Schrode
<webmaster @ schrode . net>
http://www.schrode.net/design/alttext.html