Rethinking Alt Text to Improve Its Effectiveness

Abstract

Traditional Alt Text on a simple graphic can be an effective way to describe the graphic, but Alt Text often fails when used on complex diagrams, maps, infographics and charts. One key reason that might cause the limitations is that Alt Text is only an attribute on an or tag, rather than a full, standardized tag that contains semantic information. This paper identifies barriers created by Alt Text as an attribute on tags in HTML, PDF, and EPUB and explores the need to develop better, innovative solutions that can provide more accessible and usable information for those who use adaptive technologies to understand the communication represented by complex graphics.