Thus, if a site hasn't been designed with alt-text tags, sighted users lose out as well as blind users. Image descriptions should also be used whenever an essential graphic or image is included on a Web page. A description summarizes a graphic in a sentence or two, providing more information than the alt-text tag. A keyhole is cut into its surface. Descriptions can be displayed below an image, similar to a photo caption, or they can be linked to another page.
Some webmasters prefer to link to descriptions to avoid cluttering up the original page.
Clicking on the link leads the user to another page containing the description text. Once on the description page, the screen reader can read the text to the blind user. Conversely, a sighted viewer with a slow modem connection can first read the description to see if it is worthwhile to download the graphic. Once the description has been read, the user can then go back to the previous page and continue browsing the site. Another helpful feature the webmaster can provide is a version of a Web site that omits graphics but still contains the same information found on the graphic-oriented pages.