Alternative text, or "alt text", provides a text equivalent for images, charts, graphs, and more. This article discusses how to add Alternative Text in the Technology Help Website (it.umn.edu) via Drupal.
Before adding or editing Alternative Text in the Technology Help website, familiarize yourself with the importance of Making Images Accessible Using Alternative Text.
This article covers the following topics:
Setting the alt text attribute on a Drupal page
When you add an image in a page on the Technology Help website, you must provide alternative text using the alt text attribute.
- After Uploading an Image or Using an Existing image, select Edit next to the image.
- Fill out the Alternative text field. The HTML attribute is automatically generated when you fill out the Alternative text field in the image's Edit mode.
- What you enter into the Alternative Text field depends entirely on the image's context. A good guideline here is to think: what meaning is a sighted user deriving from this image? Then, use that information to write your alt text. This will ensure that anyone who can't see the image is still getting equal access to its meaning.
Additional resources
- WebAIM is an organization dedicated to web accessibility. Their top-notch website has an Introduction to Web Accessibility which includes a section on Alternative Text.
- Drupal: Upload an Image and Add it to a Page
- Drupal: Re-use an Image Using the Media Module