Providing alternative text descriptions for images used in a document is an essential part of digital accessibility. Alt text can be entered in similar ways in applications like MS Word, PowerPoint, Acrobat PDF, and in Canvas. The alt text should relate to the purpose of the image rather than be a complete description of everything in the photo. Try to keep the alt text brief to around 125 characters as some accessibility checkers will flag alt text that’s too long as an issue. Sometimes it can be difficult to decide if a particular image should have alt text. This alt text decision tree app can help. It can also let you know if an image is considered a complex image and needs an even longer description.
Here are some tips for adding alt text in some of your favorite apps: MS Word, PowerPoint, Acrobat PDF, and in Canvas.
TOC
- MS Word
- MS PowerPoint
- Acrobat PDF
- Canvas (Carmen or Scarlet)
MS Word
Checking for accessibility issues in a Word document is easy with the built-in accessibility checker that’s similar to the ones in other MS Office applications. The checker can easily spot instances of missing alt text.
To run the accessibility checker that’s built into Word:
- Go to ‘File’ > ‘info’
- Under ‘inspect document’ choose “Check accessibility”. The accessibility panel appears the right side of your document showing any issues.
- While some issues have an easy fix, others may require ure more skill to correct. References are provided to assist in looking up how to fix issues.
- To correct missing alt text issues, click on the Picture number that’s missing it in the accessbility issues list. Then choose ‘Add a description’ or ‘Mark as decorative’ if the picture is just of decoration.
In newer versions of Word, alt text is automatically generated when a picture is imported. You can check if the alt description is accurate enough by right-clicking on the image and choosing ‘View Alt Text’
You can learn more about MS Word document accessibility in the Office document accessibility BuckeyeLearn courses.
MS PowerPoint
Checking for accessibility issues in a PowerPoint presentation is easy with the built-in accessibility checker that’s similar to the ones in other MS Office applications.
To run the accessibility checker that’s built into MS PowerPoint:
- Go to ‘File’ > ‘info’.
- Under ‘inspect document’ choose “Check accessibility”. The accessibility panel appears the right side of your document showing any issues.
- While some issues have an easy fix, others may require ure more skill to correct. References are provided to assist in looking up how to fix issues.
- To correct missing alt text issues, click on the slide number that’s missing it in the accessbility issues list. Then choose ‘Add a description’ or ‘Mark as decorative’ if the picture is just of decoration.
In newer versions of PowerPoint, alt text is automatically generated when a picture is imported. You can check if the alt description is accurate enough by right-clicking on the image and choosing ‘View Alt Text’.
You can learn more about MS PowerPoint document accessibility in the Office document accessibility BuckeyeLearn courses.
Acrobat PDF
- To find missing alt text issues in a PDF document, run the accessibility checker by going by clicking ‘Prepare for accessibility’ and then ‘Check for accessibility’. A list of issues comes up in the accessibility panel on the right.
- For missing alt text issues, you can right-click on the issue and choose ‘Fix’. A box pops up allowing you to add alt text to each figure that is missing it. The alt text should relate to the purpose of the image rather than be a complete description of everything in the photo. Try to keep the alt text brief to around 125 characters. If the image is just of decoration instead of meaningful content, check the ‘Decorative figure’ box.
You can learn more about PDF document accessibility in the PDF accessibility BuckeyeLearn courses.
Canvas (Carmen or Scarlet)
- Canvas course pages have a built-in accessibility checker in the rich text editor that’s available when you edit a course page. The checker can find missing alt text in a page and allow you to add some.
- Edit a course page to get access to the checker. Click the checker icon to begin running a check.
- A box on the right pops up allowing you to add alt text for any images missing it. If the image is just of decoration instead of meaningful content, check the ‘Decorative figure’ box.
You can learn more about Canvas course accessibility from this Carmen Canvas accessibility checklist from EHE.