Alt writing
Tags: images, alt, a11y
Published: 2022-05-25 10:48:14

---
title: Alt writing
published: true
date: 2022-05-25 09:28:04 UTC
tags: images,alt,accessibility,a11y
canonical_url: https://adactio.com/journal/19106
---

I made [the website for this year’s UX London](https://2022.uxlondon.com/) by hand.

Well, that’s not entirely true. There’s exactly one build tool involved. I’m using [Sergey](https://sergey.cool/) to include global elements—the header and footer—something that’s [still not possible in HTML](https://css-tricks.com/the-simplest-ways-to-handle-html-includes/).

So it’s minium viable static site generation rather than actual static files. It’s still very hands-on though and I enjoy that a lot; editing HTML and CSS directly without intermediary tools.

When I update the site, it’s usually to add a new speaker [to the line-up](https://2022.uxlondon.com/speakers/) (well, not any more now that [the line up is complete](https://adactio.com/journal/19102)). That involves marking up their bio and talk description. I also create a couple of different sized versions of their headshot to use with `srcset`. And of course I write an `alt` attribute to accompany that image.

By the way, Jake has [an excellent article on writing `alt` text](https://jakearchibald.com/2021/great-alt-text/) that uses the specific example of a conference site. It raises some very thought-provoking questions.

I enjoy writing `alt` text. I recently described how [I updated my posting interface here on my own site](https://adactio.com/journal/19080) to put a `textarea` for `alt` text front and centre for my notes with photos. Since then I’ve been enjoying the creative challenge of writing useful—but also evocative—`alt` text.

Some recent examples:

- [Time to go play some songs with @SalterCane.](https://adactio.com/notes/19074) 

> A close-up of a microphone in a practice room. In the background, a guitar player tunes up and a bass player waits to start.

- [Brighton in the sun.](https://adactio.com/notes/19077) 

> People sitting around in the dappled sunshine on the green grass in a park with the distinctive Indian-inspired architecture of the Brighton Pavilion in the background, all under a clear blue sky.

- [Duck leg on white beans with sage, garlic, rosemary and olives.](https://adactio.com/notes/19105) 

> Looking down on the crispy browned duck leg contrasting with the white beans, all with pieces of green fried herbs scattered throughout.

But when I was writing the `alt` text for the headshots on the UX London site, I started to feel a little disheartened. The more speakers were added to the line-up, the more I felt like I was repeating myself with the `alt` text. After a while they all seemed to be some variation on “This person looking at the camera, smiling” with maybe some detail on their hair or clothing.

- [Videha Sharma](https://2022.uxlondon.com/speakers/videha-sharma/) 

> The beaming bearded face of Videha standing in front of the beautiful landscape of a riverbank.

- [Candi Williams](https://2022.uxlondon.com/speakers/candi-williams/) 

> Candi working on her laptop, looking at the camera with a smile.

- [Emma Parnell](https://2022.uxlondon.com/speakers/emma-parnell/) 

> Emma smiling against a yellow background. She’s wearing glasses and has long straight hair.

- [John Bevan](https://2022.uxlondon.com/speakers/john-bevan/) 

> A monochrome portrait of John with a wry smile on his face, wearing a black turtleneck in the clichéd design tradition.

- [Laura Yarrow](https://2022.uxlondon.com/speakers/laura-yarrow/) 

> Laura smiling, wearing a chartreuse coloured top.

- [Adekunle Oduye](https://2022.uxlondon.com/speakers/adekunle-oduye/) 

> A profile shot of Adekunle wearing a jacket and baseball cap standing outside.

The more speakers were added to the line-up, the harder I found it not to repeat myself. I wondered if this was all going to sound very same-y to anyone hearing them read aloud.

But then I realised, “Wait …these _are_ kind of same-y images.”

By the very nature of the images—headshots of speakers—there wasn’t ever going to be that much visual variation. The experience of a sighted person looking at [a page full of speakers](https://2022.uxlondon.com/speakers/) is that after a while the images kind of blend together. So if the `alt` text also starts to sound a bit repetitive after a while, maybe that’s not such a bad thing. A screen reader user would be getting an equivalent experience.

That doesn’t mean it’s okay to have the _same_ `alt` text for each image—they are all still different. But after I had that realisation I stopped being too hard on myself if I couldn’t come up with a completely new and original way to write the `alt` text.

And, I remind myself, writing `alt` text is like any other kind of writing. The more you do it, the better you get.