TL;DR: Alt text is the written description screen readers use to explain an image, and writing it well is the practical core of accessible image use on a website. The ADA does not set a word count, so businesses follow web accessibility standards such as WCAG instead. Useful alt text describes what the image contributes on that specific page, stays short, and skips keyword padding. Decorative images should carry empty alt text, functional images should describe the action, and images containing text need that text conveyed.
A customer lands on your website ready to book, call, or buy, and the information they need is trapped inside an image they cannot access. That is the moment alt text stops being a technical checkbox and becomes a business problem. If your site uses photos, icons, banners, headshots, product images, or image buttons, your alt text decides who can use the site and who gets shut out.
For small and local businesses that matters more than most owners realize. Your website is often the first impression your business makes. When parts of it are unreadable to visitors using screen readers, the experience feels frustrating and completely avoidable. Good alt text closes that gap and makes the site more searchable at the same time.
What alt text has to do with ADA compliance
Alt text, short for alternative text, is a written description attached to an image in your website code. Screen readers use it to explain images to people with visual impairments. It also appears in place of an image that fails to load.
When people talk about alt text and ADA compliance, they mean writing image descriptions that support accessibility standards tied to the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ADA itself contains no rule about how many words an image description needs. Businesses look to web accessibility standards such as WCAG for what accessible image use actually looks like.
That distinction matters, because compliance depends on whether the text is useful, accurate, and appropriate for what the image is doing. Simply having alt text in the field is not the same thing.
Why alt text matters beyond compliance
The legal reason to care is real. For most business owners the more immediate issue is usability. If a visitor cannot tell what a product image shows, what a button does, or what a graphic says, they trust the site less and leave sooner.
Alt text supports SEO too, though that should stay a secondary benefit. Search engines use image context to understand a page, and clear descriptions reinforce topical relevance on service, location, e-commerce, and portfolio pages. Over-optimizing here backfires quickly. Keyword-stuffed alt text degrades the experience for the people it exists to serve.
The rule is simple. Write for accessibility first and let the SEO value follow.
How to write alt text that actually helps
The best alt text describes what a person needs to know rather than everything visible in the frame. Context decides what that is.
If your plumbing company has a photo of a technician fixing a kitchen sink on a service page, "Plumber repairing a leaking kitchen sink" works well. It is specific, clear, and tied to what the page is about.
If the same image appears on an About page focused on your team, "Company plumber performing a residential repair" fits better. Same image, different purpose. That is why pasting identical alt text everywhere often misses.
Keep it concise without stripping out meaning. A few well-chosen words usually do it. Skip openers like "image of" or "picture of," since screen readers already announce that an image is present.
You also do not need to force branding into every description. If your logo appears somewhere meaningful, naming the business makes sense. If it is decorative repetition in a footer, it does not.
Be specific
Vague alt text is one of the most common problems on small business websites. Words like "photo," "stock image," or "banner" help nobody. A good description identifies the subject and its function.
"Woman smiling" might be accurate and still be weak when the image is meant to show a patient at a dental office. "Dental patient smiling in exam room" gives the user a clearer picture and matches the page intent.
Match the image's role
Different images need different treatment. Informational images need descriptive alt text. Functional images such as clickable icons or image buttons need alt text that explains the action. Decorative images should usually carry empty alt text so screen readers skip them.
This trips up a lot of businesses. They assume every image needs a description, and then decorative flourishes, background textures, and visual dividers get announced one by one. The goal is reducing confusion, so sometimes the right answer is fewer words rather than more.
Common mistakes that hurt accessibility
Keyword stuffing comes first. If your alt text reads like a ranking strategy, it needs work. "Amarillo roofing contractor roof repair roofing company best roofer" sounds unnatural and gives a screen reader user nothing to work with.
Being too generic comes second. "Team photo" tells a visitor almost nothing on a page introducing your staff. "Three customer service team members at front desk" does the job.
Ignoring images that contain text is third. If your site uses graphics for promotions, testimonials, pricing highlights, or event details, the alt text has to carry that information. When the image says "20% off lawn care through July 31," the screen reader user should get that message too.
Trusting AI-generated alt text without review is fourth. Automation speeds up work on large sites and still misses nuance. It describes what is visually present without capturing what matters on the page. On a local business site where every conversion point counts, that gap costs you.
Alt text by page type
Service pages need alt text that reinforces the service on display. A contractor, med spa, law firm, or restaurant should describe images so users understand the experience, the setting, or the result.
E-commerce pages need more precision. Product images should identify the item clearly, including color, style, size, or material where those matter. "Blue ceramic coffee mug with white interior" beats "mug" by a mile.
Team and About pages focus on identification and context. When an image helps visitors recognize a staff member, use the person's name and role where appropriate.
Buttons, icons, and linked images need action-oriented text. If clicking an image opens a scheduling page, the alt text should say "Schedule an appointment" rather than "calendar icon."
Charts, infographics, and complex graphics take more thought. Short alt text alone rarely covers them. Pair a brief description with nearby page text that explains the data or the takeaway in full.
A practical way to audit your site
Start with your highest-value pages: homepage, core service pages, contact page, product pages, and anything that drives leads. Look at every image and ask three questions. What is this image doing here? Does a visitor need it to understand the page? If so, does the current alt text communicate that clearly?
You will find a mix of problems. Some images will have nothing. Others will have file names like "IMG_4821.jpg" or platform defaults that are technically filled in and functionally useless. A few will need less alt text than they have.
While you are in there, check whether important information is buried inside images. If your site leans on image-based text, alt text helps, and the better fix is usually moving that content onto the page where everyone can reach it.
Compliance is not one-size-fits-all
A common misconception says there is a single formula for accessibility. There is not. The right alt text depends on the image, the page, and what the user needs from it.
So accessibility work rewards thought over speed. A local business site with ten service pages and a gallery has different needs from an online store with thousands of products. In both cases, alt text belongs inside a broader accessibility strategy rather than sitting off to the side as a standalone fix.
At 11 Marketing + Design, the real improvements come from intentional website decisions that make sites easier to use and easier to trust. Generic patches rarely get there.
The best alt text never calls attention to itself. It gets the right visitor the information they need so they can move forward with confidence and experience your business the way the site intended.
FAQs
Does the ADA require alt text on every image?
The ADA does not specify a rule for image descriptions. Businesses follow web accessibility standards such as WCAG, which call for alt text that suits the image's purpose. Decorative images are often best left with empty alt text.
How long should alt text be?
A few well-chosen words usually suffice. Describe what the image contributes to that page, skip openers like "image of," and avoid padding the description with extra detail nobody needs.
What should I do with decorative images?
Give them empty alt text so screen readers skip them. Announcing background textures, flourishes, and visual dividers adds noise without adding information.
Does alt text help SEO?
It helps search engines understand image context and reinforce page relevance. Keyword stuffing works against you, though, because it makes the experience worse for the users alt text exists to serve.
Can I use AI to generate alt text?
It can speed up work on a large site, but review the output. Automated descriptions capture what is visually present and often miss what actually matters on the page.
What about images that contain text, like a promo graphic?
The alt text has to convey that information. If the graphic says "20% off lawn care through July 31," a screen reader user needs to receive the same message.
