Alternative text (alt text) serves as a textual replacement for visual content. Screen readers read alt text out loud to visually impaired students, and it displays on-screen if an image fails to load.

Use the following tips as you create alt text for your images:

• Image alt text should include any information the image portrays that is important to understand the function of the image. Ask yourself: "What critical information does this visual provide to a student who cannot see it?"
• Keep alt text as simple as possible while still providing enough information for a user to navigate your content.
• If your image shows how to complete a step, include directional alt text. This alt text includes information on how to find buttons, drop-down menus, or options in a list of text shown in the image. Example: Select Tools, the sixth option in the D2L navbar, and then Assignments, the fourth option in the drop-down menu.
• You do not need to include the word "image" at the beginning of your alt text, as a screen reader will already provide that information.
• If an image is purely aesthetic (e.g., decorative borders, abstract background swirls, or generic stock art that adds no learning value) mark it as decorative so screen readers safely skip it.

The following flashcard uses an image of a Ferris wheel to ask the question, "What color scheme does this image of a Ferris wheel show?" Because the color of the image plays a vital role in completing the task, the alt text must include sufficient information about the colors.

The alt text should read similar to: White Ferris wheel with red, orange, yellow, and seafoam green carriages against a white/light blue sky

_{Ferris wheel image used from Unsplash by hannahmorgan7}