Images

Introduction to screen‐readers: Voiceover MacOS Edition

Images don't require any specific key commands to access. Just like other content they will be announced as you move through the page.

What is worth looking at however is how the various states will be handled by Voiceover as this will help you recognise when there is an issue.

Activity - images and alt text

Using Voiceover, move to the images below.

The first image has no alt attribute at all and Voiceover reads out the filename instead. This is not the same for all screen‐readers, some will skip it or announce it as “unlabelled”.

On the second image, this has been marked up as if the image is purely decorative. The blank alt attribute here allows the screen‐reader to treat it purely as decorative so it will ignore it entirely.

The final image has some meaningful alt text added which is read out as Voiceover reaches it.

An ornate sandcastle on a white beach

What is actually used as alt text should really be dependent on the context of the image.

Key takeaway

Make sure images have appropriate alt attribute content.

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