How to Add Alt Text to All Elements in Word

Alt text (alternative text) describes visual elements for people using screen readers. Every visual element in your document—from images to charts—should have clear, descriptive alt text. This comprehensive guide teaches you to add alt text to all document elements.

Understanding Alt Text

What Is Alt Text?

Alt text is a text description that appears instead of an image when the image doesn’t load or when a screen reader reads the document.

For example, instead of displaying a photo, screen readers announce the alt text: “Team members gathered around a conference table during a brainstorm meeting.”

Why Alt Text Is Essential

• Accessibility: Blind and low-vision users depend on alt text to understand images
• Mobile: Images sometimes fail to load; alt text provides information anyway
• Clarity: Alt text helps all users understand image purpose and content
• Legal compliance: Many accessibility standards require alt text

Alt text is not optional for accessible documents.

Alt Text Length and Content

Keep alt text concise but descriptive:

• Under 125 characters is ideal for most images
• Describe what you see: Object, people, action, context
• Describe purpose: Why is the image in the document?
• Include visible text: If text appears in the image, include it

Longer descriptions (for complex images) can be placed in captions or surrounding text instead of alt text.

Adding Alt Text to Images

Basic Image Alt Text

Right-click any image and look for “Edit Alt Text” or “Format Picture” options.

A dialog opens with a text field for alt text. Type your description and click OK.

Writing Image Alt Text

For photographs:

• Identify key people or objects
• Describe action or content
• Include relevant context
• Mention important details like colors if significant

Example: “Three people sitting on a park bench during autumn, with trees showing fall colors in the background”

For screenshots:

• Describe what’s shown on screen
• Mention important buttons or text visible
• Explain the context or purpose

Example: “Microsoft Word ribbon showing formatting buttons including Bold, Italic, and Underline options”

For diagrams:

• Describe the overall concept
• Identify key elements and relationships
• Explain what the diagram illustrates

Example: “Flowchart showing the document review process from draft to final approval”

Decorative Images

Some images are purely decorative and don’t convey important information. Mark these as decorative by leaving alt text empty.

The accessibility checker won’t flag decorative images as missing alt text. Right-click and confirm “Mark as decorative” if the option exists.

Charts and Graphs

For charts and graphs, describe:

• Chart type (bar chart, pie chart, line graph)
• What data is shown
• Key trends or patterns
• Data ranges or important numbers

Example: “Line graph showing monthly website traffic from January to December 2025, with traffic increasing from 50,000 to 150,000 visits”

If charts are complex, provide both alt text and a data table or detailed description elsewhere in the document.

Adding Alt Text to Shapes and Text Boxes

Shapes

Right-click any shape and select “Edit Alt Text” or similar option.

Describe what the shape represents. If it’s part of a diagram, explain its role in the overall illustration.

Example for a rectangle shape: “Blue box containing important process step in workflow diagram”

Text Boxes

Text boxes can have alt text too. Right-click and access alt text options.

Describe the text box’s content and purpose if not obvious from surrounding context.

Example: “Text box highlighting key finding: ‘Customer satisfaction increased by 25% this quarter‘“

Icons and Symbols

Icons should have brief alt text describing their meaning:

Example: “Red warning triangle indicating potential security issue”

For decorative icons that don’t convey information, leave alt text empty.

Adding Alt Text to Tables

Table Descriptions

While individual cells don’t need alt text, tables should have overall descriptions.

Some versions allow adding alt text to the entire table. Right-click the table and look for properties or alt text options.

Table Headers

Make sure tables have proper headers. Right-click the table and confirm headers are marked.

This isn’t exactly alt text, but proper headers are essential for table accessibility.

Describing Table Content

For complex tables, add a caption or description before the table explaining its content and purpose.

Example caption: “Table 1: Sales data by region for the 2025 fiscal year, comparing actual sales to projected sales”

Alternative Formats

For very complex tables, provide an alternative format:

• A text summary of key findings
• A downloadable spreadsheet with the same data
• A list version of the data

This ensures all users, especially those with screen readers, can access the information.

Adding Alt Text to SmartArt and Diagrams

SmartArt Graphics

Right-click SmartArt and look for “Edit Alt Text” in the context menu.

Describe the overall diagram purpose and key elements. Explain relationships between elements.

Example: “Organizational chart showing reporting structure with CEO at top, three department heads reporting to CEO, and team members under each department head”

Complex Diagrams

For complex diagrams with many elements, provide:

• Overall description of the diagram purpose
• Identification of major elements
• Key relationships or connections
• Legend explanation if one exists

Reviewing Alt Text in Your Document

Using the Accessibility Checker

Run Review > Check Accessibility to identify images missing alt text.

The checker flags all images without alt text, helping you ensure comprehensive coverage.

Manual Alt Text Review

Create a checklist of all visual elements:

• Images ✓
• Charts ✓
• Diagrams ✓
• Shapes ✓
• Text boxes ✓
• SmartArt ✓

Go through your document systematically, adding alt text to each element.

Consistency Review

Ensure alt text style is consistent throughout. If some images have detailed descriptions while others have minimal, standardize.

Decide on your alt text approach and apply it consistently.

Alt Text Best Practices

Be Concise

Aim for under 125 characters. If more detail is needed, use a caption or surrounding text instead.

Screen reader users benefit from focused, concise alt text they can scan quickly.

Be Specific

Avoid generic descriptions like “image” or “picture.” Describe specifically what’s shown.

Generic descriptions don’t help users understand image significance or content.

Describe Content, Not Appearance

Focus on what the image shows, not on visual appearance unless appearance is relevant.

Instead of: “Large red circle” Better: “Stop sign illustration”

Include Important Details

Include details that convey the image’s purpose and significance.

• For portraits: identify people if they’re important
• For charts: include units and key numbers
• For screenshots: mention important visible text
• For diagrams: explain relationships

Test Your Alt Text

Read alt text aloud or imagine hearing only the alt text. Does it make sense? Does it convey necessary information?

If alt text reads awkwardly or is unclear, revise it.

Advanced Alt Text Scenarios

Images with Text

If images contain text, include that text in alt text.

Example: For an image of a poster that reads “Annual Conference 2026,” alt text should include this text: “Poster for Annual Conference 2026 showing date, location, and registration information”

Images of Text

Avoid putting important text only in images. If you must, include all text in alt text.

OCR limitations and accessibility concerns make image-text problematic.

Sequential Images

For series of related images (photo essay, instructions), alt text should clarify their sequence.

Example: “Step 1: Pour flour into bowl” then “Step 2: Add eggs to flour”

Linked Images

If an image is a hyperlink, alt text should describe the destination, not just the image appearance.

Example: “Link to accessibility guidelines (image of accessibility symbol)“

Collaborative Document Alt Text

Team Standards

Establish alt text standards for your organization:

• Minimum length or detail level
• Format (present tense vs. past tense, etc.)
• Specific content focus for different image types

Review Process

Include alt text review in your document review workflow. Check that all images have appropriate alt text.

Documentation

Document your alt text standards in a style guide or workflow document. This ensures consistency across team members.

Troubleshooting Alt Text Issues

Can’t Find Alt Text Option

Different Word versions place alt text options differently. Try:

• Right-click the image
• Check Format Picture/Format Shape options
• Look in Design or Format tabs

If options don’t appear, your Word version may have limited alt text support.

Alt Text Not Showing in Accessibility Checker

Run the checker again. Sometimes it takes a moment to recognize newly added alt text.

Ensure the element is properly saved after adding alt text.

Inconsistent Alt Text in Templates

If templates don’t have consistent alt text standards, establish them before distributing templates.

Ensure all template images have appropriate alt text.

Alt Text and Different Content Types

Academic Documents

Academic papers should have detailed alt text for figures and diagrams to support understanding of research findings.

Charts showing experimental results need alt text explaining data and significance.

Business Reports

Business documents need alt text for photos, logos, charts, and diagrams.

Include relevant data in chart alt text to support executive understanding.

Creative Documents

Even creative documents need alt text. Alt text doesn’t have to be dry; it can be descriptive and engaging while remaining accessible.

Best Practices Summary

Alt Text Checklist

Before finalizing documents:

• ✓ All images have alt text
• ✓ Charts have alt text describing data
• ✓ Diagrams have alt text explaining relationships
• ✓ Shapes and text boxes have alt text if meaningful
• ✓ Decorative images marked as such
• ✓ Alt text is concise but descriptive
• ✓ Alt text is consistent in style
• ✓ Accessibility Checker confirms no missing alt text

Conclusion

Adding comprehensive alt text throughout your Word documents ensures they’re usable by everyone, including people with disabilities. From images to charts to shapes, every visual element should have descriptive alt text. By following these guidelines and practicing consistent alt text creation, you make your documents more accessible and improve the experience for all readers. Make alt text a standard part of your document creation process, and you’ll naturally create more inclusive, accessible documents.