Create Alt Text for Images

All images need to have succinct, accurate, and equivalent alt text. This will be read by screen readers and should present the content and function of an image.

Read more about alt text tips and tricks from the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative).

Important Note

CivicPlus works toward WCAG 2.0 AA accessibility standards and our websites are highly compliant when they go live. However, ongoing ADA compliance and maintenance is the customer's responsibility.

Alt Text Tips & Guidelines

• Alt text should not contain redundant phrases like “image of” or “graphic of”
• Alt text for two images cannot be the same.
  • If there are two photos of a river, for instance, on a page, either distinguish them by saying “River 1” and “River 2” or write more specific alt text such as “East side of the river” and “Close-up of river water”
• If an image contains words, add as much of the text from the image as possible to the alt text (100-character limit).
• Alt text should not contain file extensions, such as .jpg. It should be easily readable and describe what is happening in the image
  • See the following explanation for using file extensions in the alt text

Complex Images

• Some examples of complex images can include charts, graphs, maps, or images of text.
• When text is displayed in an image, that text should be used as the image's alt text.
• A link should be provided to an accessible format of the image's information.
• To learn more about how alt text can be applied to images of text, review the WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) Success Criterion 1.4.5.

Linked Images

• If the image functions as a link, the alt text should describe where the image will take the user
  • For instance, if an image showed a Swoosh and linked to the Nike Website, the appropriate alt text would be “Nike.” A screen reader would identify the link and add “site” or “link,” therefore writing “Nike Website” as alt text would be redundant, and “Nike Logo” would not make sense
• If the image links to a document, the alt text should contain the file extension.
  • For example, if you have a cover image of the annual report, the alt text would be “Annual Report (PDF)”
• If the image links to a larger version of itself, the alt text should read with the file extension
  • For example, an image of a map linking to a larger version of itself should have the alt text “Map of Downtown (JPG)”

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Add Alt Text to an Image

1. Sign in to your Web Central website using your CivicPlus Single Sign-On account
   
   Note: This process may look different based on how your site was designed.
2. Navigate to the page you wish to add an image to
3. Click the Live Edit is OFF button to enable Live Edit:
   
   
   Note: If Live Edit is enabled, the button will read Live Edit is ON
   
4. Select the Widgets tab from the Live Edit panel:
   
5. Click the Image Widget to drag and drop it in the location on the page:
   
6. Locate the image to add to the page:
   
   Note: To easily locate your image, you can Search for its Display Name or ID:
   
7. Click the Actions button next to the image:
   
8. Select the Modify option:
   
9. Add Alt text to clearly explain what is happening in the image:
   
   
   • Accessibility Compliance: Make the alt text as compliant as you can and keep it consistent with the image’s purpose
10. Click the Save button in the Content Images pop-up window:
    
11. Click the Insert button:
    
12. (Optional) Edit the image as desired or create a linked image
13. Click the Save button:
    

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In-Article Glossary

Review the Municipal Websites Central Glossary for a comprehensive explanation of the acronyms, abbreviations, and company-specific terminology. The terms located in this section are listed alphabetically.

• ADA: Americans with Disabilities Act
• Alt: Alternative
• W3C: World Wide Web Consortium
• WAI: Web Accessibility Initiative
• WCAG: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
• Web Central: CivicPlus' Municipal Websites Central solution

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Additional Resources

• Understanding WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) | Overview
  • Understanding WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) | Success Criterion 1.1.1 | Non-text Content
  • Understanding WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) | Success Criterion 1.4.5 | Images of Text
• W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative) Images Tutorial

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