ALT text

[yakisha]

Why is ?ALT text? so important ?

 

[PlexiHosting]

One reason: People who don't load images can get the idea, or - I find this one useful - people on cell phone browsers can see the ALT text while the image loads (guess this applies to all slower connections).

Other reasons: HTML/XHTML specs now specify it should be populated, accessibility is better since those that are colorblind may choose to view ALT instead of images, etc.

 

[cpengineer]

Why is ?ALT text? so important ?

On slow-loading modems, ALT text appears immediately and lets users click on the item, if it contains a link, before it is completely visible on the screen. ALT text is the only way for people using screen readers to know what is in a graphic.

 

[mikem]

When I find myself on dialup I turn off images to help the pages load faster. I can assure you I curse out sites that don't have alt text set.

 

[eleven]

ALT text can be used for SEO reasons by ethically populating your keywords within the ATL tag.

 

[crash]

alt tags should be used to show SE what a picture is for but as eleven pointed out you can use it ethically to populate a keyword

 

[siteseer]

wow i read about this in the early stages but few were adopting and I let it slip my mind. Now i see i favor huge banner and many small images and speed for dialup users is a concern. i certainly don't want to be cursed out or putting off participants.

Is there a lesson here for the procedure?

 

[Corey Bryant]

Plus if you are using a DOCTYPE and trying to validate your code, the alt text is actually a required attribute

 

[kiz9999]

if the picture doesn't load then people will know what was meant to be there!