You don't necessarily need to say "image of" in your alt text for users to know it's an image. Screen readers will announce that it's an image. But it can help readers to specify if it's a hand-drawn image, Polaroid, infographic, screenshot, chart, map, diagram, or so on.

Don't forget transcripts for video and audio. These will help blind users and low-vision users, deaf and hard-of-hearing users, people with ADHD, people with audio-processing disorders, people in quiet spaces, people in a hurry, and others.

Don’t stuff your alt text with keywords without context. If your alt text is just a collection of keywords, it will just sound like a gibberish string. It won’t describe what’s actually in the image, and won't help a blind user get a context or content of the image.

Some people need to change the way text is displayed in order to read it. This includes changing size, spacing, font, color, and other properties. When people customize text, the text should re-flow so they don’t have to scroll horizontally to read. www.w3.org/WAI/perspect...

Get in the habit of bringing up accessibility at meetings, in stand-ups, and in demos. Bring up things you've done to address accessibility. Likewise, don't be afraid to ask, "Have we tested this on a keyboard?" or "What's the experience like on a screen reader?"

Automatically updating content can be extremely distracting, especially for users with vestibular disorders or attention difficulties. This could force users to scroll through page content to not see the animation, or to just look away. Allow animations to be paused or stopped.

The BBC's Accessibility Guide has several resources, including step-by-step instructions to using assistive technologies. The resource includes insight into several assistive technologies, including VoiceOver, JAWS, NVDA, TalkBack, ClaroRead, and Dragon. bbc.github.io/accessibilit...

Accessibility-focused job interview questions can cover much than just reciting specifications. These questions compiled by Scott O'Hara can be helpful for those conducting job interviews, as well as for those prepping to be interviewed. scottaohara.github.io/accessibilit...

An accessibility statement lets your users know you're committed to web accessibility. These statements usually include the accessibility standard applied, such as WCAG 2.2 AA. They also include contact information in case users encounter problems. www.w3.org/WAI/planning...

Headings serve as landmarks for users and help them understand how different pieces of information relate to each other. For example, a section with a level 3 headings probably provides information in support of information provided in the previous level 2 heading, and so on.

First and foremost, alt text must always be informative and descriptive of the content in the image. It can have character and humor, but it still needs to be informative and descriptive. Alt text is not a place to add easter eggs or jokes for sighted users.

Awards shows are always visual, spawning talked-about looks and funny memes. Alt text will be the only way that many people get access to that information. Alt text will be how they can participate in the conversation. If you struggle to understand alt text, this guid will help. #GRAMMYS

Under the ADA, state and local governments, public schools, community colleges, and public universities will soon have to conform to WCAG 2.1 AA. Depending on the size of the population served, entities have until April 2026 and April 2027 to comply. www.ada.gov/resources/20...

Vestibular disorders affect people's balance as well as their visual perception of their world around them. Don't make animations, sliders, videos, or rapid movement start automatically, as autoplaying elements could trigger a bad reaction in people who have vestibular disorders.

Many struggle with writing alt text for charts and other other data visualizations. Amy Cesal's "Writing Alt Text for Data Visualization" hammers home the importance of explaining the chart type, the type of data, and the reason for the chart. medium.com/nightingale/...

Automatic captions make it difficult to watch videos because the viewer is forced to decipher misspelled or mistranslated words that appear in a string of text without any punctuation. These can be distracting and disorienting. Always edit your captions before publishing.

The #NoMouse Challenge is a global effort to raise awareness about accessible web design. Try using your website without a mouse. Use the keyboard instead. Is it possible to access all features and operate all buttons, sliders, and other controls? nomouse.org

Sighted users often use bold or large fonts to create the appearance of headings in documents. People using screen readers have no way of understanding these visual cues. Use heading styles from the styles menu to correctly format headings.

Avoid emoji icons in alt text. Emoji icons are a visual element, so it's counterintuitive to add them to non-visual content. You'll likely confuse people with messages that don't make sense. In alt text, use plain text, free of symbols, icons, or any weird special characters.

Make sure web pages appear and operate in predictable ways. Things like the header, navigation, and footer should be the same on each page. Navigation links should be the same on every page and always in the same order. Things should be labeled consistently.

Alexa Heinrich's Accessible Social is a free resource for digital marketers, communication professionals, content creators, everyday social media users, and anyone who wants to learn how to make their content accessible for people with disabilities. www.accessible-social.com

Avoid forcing users to memorize information. For example, use field labels instead of placeholder text. Placeholder text disappears when users begin typing. This forces them to memorize placeholder text or delete information so they can see placeholders again.

Sharing a meme on social media? Don't forget to include alt text! This resource from Veronica With Four Eyes (Veronica Lewis) will help you. veroniiiica.com/2018/11/29/h...

Cognitive load refers to how much working memory or short-term memory someone is using at a time. Minimizing the cognitive load it takes to use your site makes it more accessible for people with cognitive disabilities. Limit what you're asking users to remember to use your site.

Weather events can have huge impacts that disrupt people's lives. This is especially true disabled people and/or people with complex medical needs. It's key that information about weather events be delivered accessibly. Here are things to keep in mind when communicating news about weather. Thread 🧵

Automatically updating content can be extremely distracting, especially for users with vestibular disorders or attention difficulties. This could force users to scroll through page content to not see the animation, or to just look away. Allow animations to be paused or stopped.

If you share images of what to do during a weather-related emergency, share that advice with blind and low-vision users, too. Add alt text. The alt text should include the text in the image, rather than just a vague description, so people aren't missing out on vital information.

Game Accessibility Nexus focuses on video game accessibility. The reviews, articles, and interviews offer insight for both game players and game developers. www.gameaccessibilitynexus.com

YouTube uses automatic speech recognition to automatically generate captions for videos when they are uploaded. These might need some editing and tweaking before publishing, but it's possible to edit these captions directly in YouTube. support.google.com/youtube/answ...

A transcript is the only way to make video or audio content accessible to someone who is both deaf and blind. Transcripts can be converted into braille, to be read on a refreshable braille output device.

Templates could be designed and coded according to web accessibility standards, but this won't ensure that the final product would be accessible. Content creators still need to know about key accessibility concepts, including alt text, link text, and proper headings.

Overlays are widgets or technologies that promise to improve a site's accessibility with third-party source code. More than 1,000 accessibility advocates and web developers have signed an open letter to explain the limitations and dangers of these products. overlayfactsheet.com

"Learn Accessibility" is a course that takes you through the essentials for building accessible websites and web apps. Created for both beginners and advanced users, this course can be taken beginning to end, or used as a reference for specific topics. web.dev/learn/access...

Vestibular disorders affect people's balance as well as their visual perception of their world around them. Don't make animations, sliders, videos, or rapid movement start automatically, as autoplaying elements could trigger a bad reaction in people who have vestibular disorders.

Don't buy into the myth that "accessibility is only about adding alternative text to images." Alt text is important, of course. But there is so much more to accessibility, including headline structure, functional controls, color contrast, link text, plain language, and more.

AI is often sold as perfect solutions to the "problem" of having to create captions and transcripts. That framing, of course, centers creators and producers over the people who actually rely upon the captions and transcripts. But there is no replacement for humans when making content accessible.

People who want to make the web accessible need to understand the many different ways that people with disabilities use the web. This W3C resource offers a good introduction to how disabled people navigate the web, and barriers they commonly encounter. www.w3.org/WAI/people-u...

Sheri Byrne-Haber's "Giving A Damn About Accessibility" has great tips on how to deal with people who challenge or dismiss the need for accessibility. uxdesign.cc/giving-a-dam...

Many live with the limitations of not understanding numbers and the impact that has on everyday life. Laura Parker's Accessible Numbers project offers guidance on how to design services and write content for people who need help with numbers. accessiblenumbers.com

When using Microsoft Word or Google Docs, don't just make text bigger and bolder to make it a heading. That will work for sighted users, but screen reader users will miss that and just hear it as normal paragraph text. Use actual heading styles, like level 1 through 6.

Audio descriptions are necessary for making videos accessible. They narrate the crucial visual elements that would be necessary for understanding the plot without the ability to see the screen. They describe non-verbal cues like gestures, facial expressions, or eye contact.

If you have Chrome, Firefox, or Edge, WebAIM's WAVE extensions can help review sites directly within the browser. Automated tests can't catch everything, but WAVE can still find many barriers and Web Content Accessibility Guideline (WCAG) errors. wave.webaim.org/extension/

Do not rely on the A.I.-generated alt text in Facebook or Instagram. The result is vague and useless, like "may be an image of food and text," and "may be an image of outdoors." These do nothing to give users the context and content of an image.

Looking for a digital accessibility job? Or looking to hire someone for an accessibility role? A11yjobs is a digital accessibility job board. www.a11yjobs.com

Consistent layout makes websites easier to navigate and understand as it helps users learn what elements to expect and in what order. This is especially helpful to low vision users or blind users using a screen reader. It also helps those with cognitive and learning disabilities.

Alt text always depends on context. Imagine an icon of a computer printer. It could be used on a page of free icons. It could be on a school's computer lab site. Or it could be part of a button that allows you to print the current page. In each instance, the same icon would need different alt text.

"Learn Accessibility" is a course that takes you through the essentials for building accessible websites and web apps. Created for both beginners and advanced users, this course can be taken beginning to end, or used as a reference for specific topics. web.dev/learn/access...

For people who don't use screen readers, it can be difficult to understand how screen readers work. If you're interested in learning how people use screen readers, check out this demo from Marc Sutton and The University of California San Francisco. youtu.be/dEbl5jvLKGQ

If you pair light colors (yellow text on white background) or dark colors (dark blue text on black background), users will struggle to read your content. Understanding color contrast will help you better serve all users, especially those with low vision. webaim.org/articles/con...

You don't necessarily want to use the exact same alt text each time a specific image is used. Alt text must consider the context of the image and why it's being included on a site, post, article, etc. In other words, alt text depends on where you're including the image and why.