If you’ve ever published a WordPress post and clicked past the “Alternative Text” field without a second thought, you’re not alone. Alt text is one of the most overlooked fields in WordPress, yet it quietly does three jobs at once: it helps screen reader users understand your images, it gives search engines context they can’t get from pixels, and it’s what displays when an image fails to load.

Getting it right doesn’t take long once you know the pattern.

What alt text actually does

Alt text (short for “alternative text”) is a written description attached to an image’s HTML. Screen readers read it aloud so visually impaired visitors know what’s on the page. Search engines use it to understand what an image shows, since they can’t “see” it the way a person can. And browsers display it as a fallback if the image itself doesn’t load.

How to write good alt text

Describe what’s in the image, in plain language, as if you were describing it to someone on the phone. Keep it specific and short, generally under 125 characters, since that’s roughly where most screen readers stop reading.

A weak example: “image123.jpg” or “photo of website.”

A strong example: “Laptop screen showing a WordPress dashboard with the Performance tab open.”

Avoid stuffing keywords. Alt text that reads like “WordPress web design Port Harcourt website designer affordable” helps no one and can actually hurt you, since search engines flag keyword stuffing as a spam signal.

Don’t start with “image of” or “picture of.” Screen readers already announce that it’s an image, so those words are redundant.

When to skip alt text

Not every image needs a description. Purely decorative images, like a background texture, a divider line, or a repeated icon that doesn’t add information, should have an empty alt attribute (alt=””). This tells screen readers to skip over the image entirely rather than announcing something unhelpful like “decorative-swirl-2.png.”

The test is simple: if removing the image would remove information the visitor needs, write alt text. If removing it would change nothing about understanding the page, leave the alt attribute empty rather than omitting it altogether.

Alt text and SEO

Search engines can’t interpret image content directly, so alt text is one of the few signals they get about what an image shows. This matters most for image search traffic and for pages where images carry real informational weight, like product photos, infographics, or screenshots in a how-to post.

That said, alt text is one small signal among many. Writing it well helps; treating it as a keyword-stuffing opportunity works against you.

A quick workflow

1. Ask: is this image decorative or informative?
2. If informative, describe what it shows in one short sentence.
3. If decorative, leave the field empty.
4. Skip generic filler like “image” or “photo.”
5. Never keyword-stuff.

Alt text takes seconds once it’s a habit, and it’s one of the simplest accessibility wins available on any WordPress site.