Answered by
Oliver Hall
Alt text, or alternative text, is a crucial part of web accessibility, providing textual descriptions for images on web pages that can be read by screen readers. However, there are specific instances where an image should have null (empty) alt text.
Decorative Images: If an image is purely decorative and adds no additional information to the page content, it should use null alt text (alt=""). This ensures that screen readers do not try to interpret the image, thus improving the user experience for those using such devices.
Redundant Images: Images that don't provide any additional information beyond what's already stated in the surrounding text should also have null alt text. For example, if you have an image of a dog next to a paragraph about that same dog, the image could have null alt text.
Images Inside Link Text: If an image is placed within link text and doesn't add any additional context to the linked resource, null alt text can be used. The link text itself should describe the destination of the link.
It's important to remember that not all images should have null alt text. If an image conveys meaningful content or functionality, it should contain appropriate and descriptive alt text.
Here is how you include null alt text in HTML:
<img src="decorative_image.jpg" alt="">
And, here's an example with descriptive alt text:
<img src="dog.jpg" alt="A brown dog playing in a field">
These best practices ensure that your website remains accessible to all users, including those with visual impairments who use screen reading technology.