Create an Accessible Word Document

Alt text is a text alterative to an image. It allows people who cannot see the image to gain the information that the image communicates. 

Alt text should:

• Provide an equivalent experience to seeing the image
• Be succinct, 1-2 sentences
• Not include redundant langage (e.g, "image of" is not needed in the alt text because a screen reader will announce it is an image). 

Creating alt text for an image is complex because the wording of the alt text depends on the purpose of the image and the surrounding context. 

Purpose

Before writing alt text, ask yourself:

• Why am I including this image?
• If I didn't have this image, what would I include to take its place?

For example, take the picture of Lucy Maud Montgomery below. The purpose of the image will be connected to the larger work it is being encorporated into:

• An article about early 1920s fashion and literary figures 
  • Alt text: Autographed portrait photo of Lucy Maude Montgomery, wearing a hat, glasses, pearl necklace, and an embroidered blouse. Her hat is set at a jaunty angle and the light source is from the upper right. She is looking directly into the camera with a slightly playful gaze.
• A banner at the top of a website, included for visualy interest
  • Mark as decorative rather than including an alt text
• A biography of the author
  • Alt text: Lucy Maud Montgomery

The same image has a different purpose in each of the examples.

Context

Another important aspect of creating alt text, is to take the surround content into acount when drafting it. As mentioned above, it is important to avoid redundancy and be succinct. 

When considering contex, alt text should:

• Not duplicate text surrounding the image
• Be specific and unique, meaning do not duplicate alt text across multiple images. 

To add or edit alt text, you first need to determine which type of image you are dealing with. We can categorize images into two primary types, functional and decorative:

• Functional Images
  • Contains important information for the reader or provides a function (e.g., a link)
  • Requires alt text
• Decorative Images
  • Primarily used for layout or aesthetic purposes only
  • Contain no important information
  • Does not require alt text but does require you to "Mark as decorative" (see below)

Images added to Word are automatically given alt text. To edit or add alt text within Word:

1. Right-click or control-click on an image
2. Select View Alt Text
3. From the Alt Text pane, edit or approve alt text, or Mark as decorative

When placing an image in a Word document you must ensure that it is formatted inline with text. This helps to ensure that screen readers recognize the image as a part of the document. To ensure an image is inline with text:

1. Right-click or control-click on the image
2. Select Wrap Text
3. Select In Line with Text

Go to your workbook and complete Step 5: Alt text.