CHSS Online Teaching Initiative

Absence of Alt Tags with Visuals

When a screen reader encounters a visual in a file, it can only read an Alt Tag that has been attached to that visual. To add a description in Microsoft Word 2016, right-click on the visual. Click Format Picture, then Layout & Properties. Click Alt Text. Add a title and a description. Descriptions for different visuals can vary depending on the type of a visual: “active,” “informational,” “textual,” or “decorative”. See examples to decide how much information to include with each visual type.