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4.2 Points to Remember when inserting Alternative Text

  • Make your description meaningful. A numerical file name for a picture is unhelpful.
  • If available, give the data from which a chart or graph is based. If not summarise the results.
  • Do not include “Picture of” or “Chart of” in your description. Screen-reading software will recognise what type of non-text element is present.
  • Text in shapes can be copied and pasted into the Alt Text Dialogue Box. In Word 2007 this process will be done automatically
  • If the file name of a picture has been inserted automatically (Word 2007), delete the file suffix, e.g. .jpeg. You may also want to make the text more meaningful.
  • If the non-text element is purely decorative you can force screen-reading software to ignore it by entering “” in the Alt Text Dialogue Box.