Writing Text Alternatives for Images of Text
Writing Text Alternatives for Images of Text records a distinct W3C-supported accessibility writing task while keeping implementation mechanics outside the writing guidance.
Prefer real text; when an image of text is genuinely necessary, make the text alternative contain the same meaningful words shown in the image.
Key details
Important caveats
Scope Boundary
Prefer actual text that can be resized and restyled; this guide covers the text-alternative wording for the exceptional cases where image-based text remains necessary.
Further guidance
Content
When text is unavoidably presented as an image, reproduce the meaningful words in the text alternative rather than describing typography or visual effects that are not part of the message.
Purpose
Matching the textual content gives nonvisual users access to the same words while avoiding loss of meaning from purely visual presentation.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- Images of Text — W3C WAI Images Tutorial (opens in a new tab)World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) · W3C WAI guidance to prefer real text and, when text must be in an image, use the same words in the text alternative.