Alt Text Writing Template for Product Managers

Keep informative image alt text under 125 characters when possible. Screen readers can handle longer text, but users who listen to pages at high speed prefer concise descriptions. For complex images like charts and infographics, the short alt should still be under 125 characters, with the detailed description provided separately via a data table, adjacent text, or `aria-describedby`. The [accessibility compliance template](/templates/accessibility-compliance-template) includes character-length checks as part of its audit criteria.

Every image must have an `alt` attribute. But not every image should have alt text content. Decorative images should have an empty alt attribute (`alt=""`). Omitting the alt attribute entirely is an accessibility violation because screen readers will fall back to reading the image file name, which is almost never useful.

For user-generated content, provide an alt text field in the upload interface with a character limit and placeholder example. If users skip the field, generate a fallback. Some teams use AI-generated alt text as a starting suggestion that users can edit. The key is never leaving the alt attribute missing entirely. For complex products with heavy user content, the [cognitive accessibility template](/templates/cognitive-accessibility-template) covers broader patterns for making user-generated content accessible.

CSS background images are invisible to screen readers by default. If a background image is purely decorative, that is the correct behavior. If the background image conveys information (a hero banner with text overlay, for example), the text should be in the HTML, not in the image. If you must use a meaningful CSS background image, add a visually hidden text alternative using `aria-label` on the container or a `.sr-only` span inside it.

Yes. Search engines use alt text to understand image content for image search results and page relevance. Good alt text for accessibility is also good alt text for SEO because it accurately describes the image content. Keyword stuffing in alt text harms both accessibility (screen reader users hear irrelevant text) and SEO (search engines penalize it). Write for the user first.