Linked Images
Difficulty: Advanced
Category:
- Content
- Presentation
When an image is the only thing contained within a link, that image must be given appropriate alternative text. Because the image provides a function, a screen reader encountering the image must convey some information to the user. If alternative text has not been provided for the image, a screen reader will typically read the image file name or the address of the page being linked to. Proper alternative text describing the link location is much more helpful and accurate. A screen reader will identify the presence of the link, so it is not necessary to put “link to” or similar in the alternative text.
Example:
<a href=”http://www.apple.com/iphone”><img src=”/images/iphone.jpg” alt=”Apple’s iPhone web site” /></a>
For more information, see http://webaim.org/techniques/alttext/.
