What is alt text?

Alt text, short for alternative text, is a brief description attached to every image. You do not usually see it on the page. It quietly does two jobs. First, it is read aloud by screen readers, the software that blind and low-vision visitors use to browse the web, so they know what a photo or graphic contains. Second, it appears in place of the image if the picture fails to load, and it gives search engines the words they need to understand your visuals.

It matters because images without alt text are invisible to a large group of people and to Google. Take a florist whose homepage shows a bouquet: good alt text like "hand-tied bouquet of white roses and eucalyptus" tells everyone exactly what it is. Vague or missing descriptions leave people guessing. Writing clear alt text is a core part of web accessibility, and it pairs naturally with other basics like your meta description to make your whole site easier to understand and find.

Every image you add through Promino has a place for alt text built right in, so you are never left wondering where it goes or whether it is being used correctly.

Our sections are designed with accessibility in mind from the start, and the editor prompts and guides you to describe your images clearly, keeping your site friendly to screen readers and search engines alike. Learn more about our approach on the accessibility page.