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How to Memorize Alt

If a picture is worth a chiliad words, what is it worth to people who cannot run across? In our digital world, it is easy for people with a visual disability to miss critical information or have a frustrating and negative experience. Imagine, for example, that a keynote speaker sends out their presentation after a conference. The presentation contains infographics to illustrate a key point. Without descriptions of the infographics, anyone with a visual disability cannot understand the infographic and misses out on primal information.

Culling text (alt text) is descriptive text which conveys the significant and context of a visual item in a digital setting, such equally on an app or spider web folio. When screen readers such equally Microsoft Narrator, JAWS, and NVDA attain digital content with alt text, they will read the alt text aloud, allowing people to better sympathize what is on the screen. Well-written, descriptive alt text dramatically reduces ambiguity and improves user experience.

People hear words objectively but empathise them subjectively. This topic describes how to empathize, write, and apply effective alt text in Microsoft Office products.

A group of people sitting in front of a computer

When to employ alt text?

Images and pictures

Brand sure to convey the content and the purpose of an image in a concise and unambiguous fashion. The alt text shouldn't be longer than a sentence or ii—most of the time a few thoughtfully selected words will exercise. Consider what is of import about an image. For instance, important context might exist the setting, the emotions on people's faces, the colors, or the relative sizes.

The alt text pane showing an example of a good alt text.

Practice not repeat the surrounding textual content as alt text or use phrases referring to images, such as, "a graphic of" or "an image of." In the case below, the alt text is referring to the prototype and does not describe the content of the epitome sufficiently.

The alt text pane showing an example of a bad alt text.

Diagrams, menses charts, and charts

When dealing with objects that give detailed information, such as an infographic, use alt text to provide the information conveyed in the object. Describing a chart as 'A bar chart showing sales over fourth dimension,' for instance, would not be useful to a blind person. Attempt to convey the insight; for instance, 'A bar chart showing sales over time. In July, sales for brand A surpassed sales for brand B and kept increasing throughout the year.' Alt text should as well clearly draw the get-go point, progress, and decision of period charts.

A pie chart for pie sales showing an example of a good alt text.

Videos

Videos that don't explicate their content require alt text to depict the visual feel, even if the user hears music, groundwork sounds, and speech. Alt text should describe the content and purpose of the video.

Ideally, a video should incorporate a second audio track with a description of the video elements that are purely visual and non accessible to people with a visual inability.

When non to use alt text?

Decorative visual objects

Decorative objects add visual interest simply aren't informative (for example, stylistic borders). People using screen readers will hear these are decorative and then they know they aren't missing any of import information. To mark a visual as decorative, only select the Mark as decorative checkbox when the Alt Text pane is open. The text entry field becomes grayed out.

Image marked as decorative in the Alt text pane.

Tip:If you export your document as a PDF, whatever visuals you take marked as decorative volition be automatically tagged as artifacts, which means they will be ignored by screen readers when navigating through PDFs.

Slicers and tables

If the Microsoft Office Accessibility Checker doesn't flag an object when it's missing alt text, you don't take to write alt text for it. Slicers and tables are examples of these objects.

How to add alt text to an object?

For instructions on how to add alt text in Outlook, Give-and-take, Excel, and PowerPoint, go to Add together alternative text to a shape, moving-picture show, chart, SmartArt graphic, or other object.

Tips for using alt text in Microsoft Office

  • Remember to use the Microsoft Role Accessibility Checker during your review process. It checks that all relevant visual content has alt text and as well gives y'all other suggestions for improving the accessibility of your content, such equally checking contrast ratios. To run the Accessibility Checker, simply click the Review tab on the ribbon, and then click Cheque Accessibility. For more info on the Accessibility Checker, become to Better accessibility with the Accessibility Checker.

  • Practice non employ a file name, duplicate text, or URLs as alt text. The Accessibility Checker will flag these since they are not useful to someone with a visual disability. For more info, go to Rules for the Accessibility Checker.

  • If there is a group of objects that forms a semantic group, such every bit a grouping of photos that all show dogs, assign alt text for the whole group. If objects have been grouped together for formatting reasons, ungroup the objects and assign appropriate alt text for each object.

Notation:If you have used Microsoft Office for a while, you might take noticed that the Alt Text pane used to take ii fields, Championship and Description. Now we utilize a single Description field in most of our apps—information technology has been found that having a single field is easier and less disruptive for both you as the author and likewise anyone using a screen reader to consume the content.

Automatic alt text

In Microsoft 365, alt text tin exist generated automatically. When y'all insert a pic, yous might encounter a bar show upwardly at the bottom of the picture with automatically generated alt text.

In Role 2019, alt text is not generated automatically when you insert an prototype. If you lot want to add automatic alt text, select the Generate a description for me push button in the Alt Text pane. Depending on the content of the epitome, sometimes the feature gives you descriptive tags and sometimes you get total sentences.

If automated alt text is generated, remember to review and edit it in the Alt Text pane and remove any comments added at that place such every bit "Description generated with high conviction."

An image with automatically generated alt text at the bottom edge of the image in Word for Windows.

Turn automatic alt text on

Annotation:Before you can use automatic alt text, you might have to enable Office Intelligent Services in any Office product. Select File > Options > General and check that Enable services is selected nether Office intelligent services. For more than info, refer to Continued experiences in Office.

  1. Select File > Options > Accessibility.

  2. Bank check that Automatically generate alt text for me is selected nether Automatic Alt Text.

Approve automated alt text or requite feedback to brand it improve

Nosotros desire your feedback on our auto-generated alt text in Microsoft 365.

  1. In the  Microsoft 365 app, correct-click the item whose alt text you desire to review and then select Edit Alt Text. The Alt Text pane opens.

  2. Exercise one of the post-obit:

    • If the alt text is satisfactory as is, select the Approve alt text checkbox.

    • If the alt text isn't satisfactory, select Give feedback on this alt text, and then fill out a brief form describing how the alt text could be improved.

      Note:No personal information virtually you will be sent to Microsoft. We'll use your feedback to amend the online service that generates automatic alt text.

Approve Alt Text checkbox selected in the Alt text pane.

Turn automatic alt text off

  1. Select File > Options > Accessibility and unselectAutomatically generate alt text for me under Automated Alt Text.

Where to find alt text functional guidelines

Go additional resource to help you lot write effective alt text:

  • Improve accessibility with the Accessibility Checker

  • Rules for the Accessibility Checker

  • Make your content attainable to everyone

  • Make your Discussion documents accessible to people with disabilities

  • Make your Excel documents accessible to people with disabilities

  • Make your OneNote notebooks accessible to people with disabilities

  • Make your Outlook email accessible to people with disabilities

  • Make your PowerPoint presentations accessible to people with disabilities

  • Make your Project Online sites and projects accessible to people with disabilities

  • Brand your SharePoint site accessible to people with disabilities

  • Brand your Sway design accessible to people with disabilities

  • Brand your Visio diagram accessible to people with disabilities

  • Use the Accessibility Reminder to notify authors of accessibility issues

  • For more than information on how to ensure that Microsoft Office products and user experiences meet the requirements for accessibility, visit our accessibility sites An inclusive, accessible Microsoft 365 and Make your content accessible to anybody with the Accessibility Checker.

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Source: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/everything-you-need-to-know-to-write-effective-alt-text-df98f884-ca3d-456c-807b-1a1fa82f5dc2