Showing results for alt text. Search instead for alt tags.

alt text

American

[awlt tekst] / ˈɔlt ˈtɛkst /

noun

Digital Technology.

a written description of an image or other nontext content, included as an attribute in HTML code and rendered as text in place of the image or other element if it does not load on the web page or read by screen reader software at the point in the page sequence where the nontext element appears.

If there’s no alt text for an image, a screen reader will read the filename—even if it’s just a string of numbers and letters.

Etymology

Origin of alt text

First recorded in 1995–2000

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The funniest part about posting it was deciding the alt text for the image.

From Slate • Jun. 11, 2025

They have sought to imbue the app with social norms, like encouraging users to post alt text with their pictures so that blind users can engage with them.

From Slate • Nov. 12, 2024

“Threads was shipped without basic accessibility functions like an alt text field or an in-app captioning tool,” said Alexa Heinrich on Twitter.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 6, 2023

Becky says you can be really descriptive with your alt text, because you have 1,000 characters to play with.

From BBC • May 4, 2023

The "alt" text gives a label to the image, and is displayed if the image can't be shown, or in the case of a browser for visually impaired people.

From The Project Gutenberg FAQ 2002 by Tinsley, Jim

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023