Images help readers understand news stories. They show what happened, introduce people involved in an event, and provide details that may be difficult to explain through text alone.
However, not everyone can see the images on your website. Some visitors use screen readers, while others may experience problems loading images because of slow internet connections. Without a proper description, these readers could miss important information.
This is where image alt text comes in.
Alt text, short for alternative text, describes an image so readers can understand its content without seeing it. It also helps search engines understand what an image represents.
For news publishers, writing good alt text means more than describing everything visible in a photograph. You need to identify the details that matter to the story and explain them clearly.
In this guide, we’ll cover six practical tips for writing better image alt text, including how to manage it on your WordPress news website.
1. Understand the Purpose of Each Image
Before writing alt text, think about why you included the image in your article. What does it show readers? Does it provide important information, support the story, or simply improve the page’s appearance?
Different images serve different purposes, so they don’t always need the same type of description.
For example, a photograph of a damaged bridge can show the impact of a flood. A portrait can help readers identify someone mentioned in an article. Meanwhile, a decorative graphic might only separate sections on the page.
The W3C image accessibility guidelines explain several types of images, including informative, decorative, functional, and complex images.
For news websites, informative images usually need alt text that describes their most important visual details.
Imagine you’re publishing an article about flooding in a residential area. The photograph shows several residents walking through a flooded street.
A useful description would explain what the residents are doing and how the flooding affects the area. You don’t need to describe every building, vehicle, or object in the background unless those details matter to the story.
However, some images don’t need descriptive alt text.
Decorative images, such as visual dividers or background patterns, generally don’t provide information readers need. You can use an empty alt attribute (alt="") so screen readers can skip them.
Keep in mind that an empty alt attribute is different from removing the attribute entirely. Without an alt attribute, some screen readers may announce the image filename instead.
Also, don’t assume a news photograph is decorative just because it has a caption. A caption may only identify the photographer or location, while the image itself contains details that readers still need to understand.
The most important thing is to consider what information readers would miss if they couldn’t see the image.
2. Know How to Restore Your Live Website
Once you understand the purpose of an image, focus on writing a description that communicates its most important details.
Good alt text should be clear, specific, and relevant to the article. Readers should be able to understand the image without having to guess what the description means.
For example, imagine you’re publishing a local news report about flooding. The photograph shows floodwater reaching the entrance of a closed shop on Market Street.
Compare these descriptions:
Good alt text: Floodwater reaches the front steps of a closed shop on Market Street.
Poor alt text: Flood news latest updates.
The first example explains what the photograph shows. It identifies the main subject, describes the situation, and includes a relevant location.
The second example only mentions the general topic. It doesn’t help readers understand what’s happening in the image.
You should also make sure every detail in your description is accurate.
For example, a photograph might show someone standing outside a damaged building. You can describe what the person is doing, but you shouldn’t assume they’re frightened, angry, or waiting for help unless your reporting confirms it.
The same applies to names, locations, and events. Use information that your reporters or editors have already verified.
According to the W3C guidance for informative images, alt text should communicate relevant information through a short phrase or sentence.
This doesn’t mean every description must follow a strict word limit. A simple photograph may need only a few words, while an image with several important details may require a complete sentence.
Try to keep your descriptions as short as possible without leaving out information that matters.
Remember that your goal isn’t to describe every object in the photograph. Focus on the details that help readers understand the story.
3. Avoid Repeating Headlines and Unnecessary Keywords
One common mistake when writing image alt text is copying the article headline directly into the description.
While this might seem convenient, a headline and an image usually serve different purposes.
A headline summarizes the main topic of an article. Alt text describes the information an image contributes to that article.
For example, imagine you’re publishing a news story with this headline: Heavy Rainfall Causes Severe Flooding Across the City.
The accompanying photograph shows several cars partially submerged on a flooded road.
Instead of repeating the headline, you could write: Several cars sit partially submerged on a flooded road after heavy rainfall.
This provides information readers wouldn’t get from the headline alone.
You should also avoid repeating details that the surrounding text already explains when they don’t add anything useful.
Before writing alt text, review the article’s headline, nearby paragraphs, and image caption. Think about what the image contributes and which details still need an explanation.
Another mistake is adding too many SEO keywords.
Alt text can help search engines understand images, but that doesn’t mean you should fill descriptions with search terms.
For example, this description isn’t helpful: Jakarta flood news, latest Jakarta flooding, Jakarta flood updates, flood news today.
It repeats related keywords without explaining the photograph.
A better alternative would be: Residents walk through a flooded street in Jakarta after heavy rainfall.
The second example includes a relevant location while providing an actual description of the image.
You also don’t need to start every description with phrases such as “Image of” or “Picture of.” Screen readers already identify images, so these phrases often add unnecessary words.
When writing alt text, prioritize readability and accuracy. Use keywords naturally when they help describe the image, but don’t force them into the description.
4. Make Linked Images and Complex Visuals Accessible
Not every image on a news website is a standard photograph. Publishers also use clickable thumbnails, charts, graphs, maps, and infographics to present information.
These images may require a different approach because they serve different purposes.
Alt Text for Linked Images
News websites often display images that visitors can click to open another article, download a report, or navigate to a different page.
When an image serves as a link, its alternative text may need to explain what happens when readers select it.
For example, imagine your article includes a report cover that links to a coastal flooding report.
Instead of writing: Blue report cover with white text.
You could write: Read the coastal flooding report.
The second example helps readers understand the purpose of the link rather than simply describing the cover’s appearance.
However, the situation changes when an image appears alongside a descriptive headline inside the same link.
For example, a homepage news card might contain a thumbnail and the headline City Council Approves New Transportation Budget.
If both elements belong to the same link and the thumbnail adds no essential information, using empty alt text may prevent screen readers from repeating the same destination.
Always check how your website structures image links before deciding which description to use.
Alt Text for Charts and Infographics
Charts and infographics often contain more information than you can explain through a short alt text description.
For example, a chart showing monthly bus ridership might include several data points, comparisons, and trends.
Simply writing Bus ridership chart doesn’t provide enough information for readers to understand the data.
Instead, you could write: Monthly bus ridership from January to June, with figures and trends explained below.
You can then provide the important figures in a table or explain the overall trend in the article.
The W3C guidelines for complex images recommend providing additional descriptions when images contain information that cannot fit into a short alternative.
Make sure the supporting explanation accurately represents the chart. Check the figures, units, dates, and comparisons against the original data before publishing.
This approach helps screen reader users access important information while making complicated data easier for other readers to understand.
5. Add and Manage Image Alt Text in WordPress
WordPress provides built-in tools for adding and editing image alt text. You don’t need an additional plugin to write descriptions for images in your articles.
You can manage alt text through the WordPress block editor or Media Library, depending on where and how you use the image.
Follow these steps:
The WordPress Image block documentation provides more information about this setting. Depending on your WordPress version, you may find the field under the Content section.
WordPress also allows you to edit alternative text through the Media Library.
However, there’s an important difference between these two methods.
When you edit alt text in an Image block, the change applies to that particular image within the current post or page.
Meanwhile, the Media Library stores an alt text value that WordPress can use when you insert the image into future posts.
Changing the description in the Media Library doesn’t automatically update every existing article that uses the image.
For this reason, you should review older posts individually when correcting image descriptions.
Managing Image Alt Text With JNews
If you’re using JNews for your WordPress news website, the theme also provides tools that support image SEO.
One of these is ALT Image Fallback, which is included in the JNews Native SEO features.
This feature provides a fallback mechanism for image alt text, helping website owners handle images that may not have alternative descriptions.
However, you should still review your images manually.
An automatic fallback may provide text, but it cannot always determine which details matter most to a news article.
For example, an image title might mention a flooding incident without explaining the actual damage visible in the photograph.
The same applies to decorative images, which may need an empty alt attribute rather than an automatically generated description.
JNews can help support your image SEO workflow, but editors should still check whether the final descriptions accurately represent their content.
6. Review Image Alt Text Before Publishing
Writing alt text shouldn’t be something you only think about after publishing an article.
Instead, make it part of your regular editorial process, just like checking headlines, captions, links, and article formatting.
Before publishing, review each image and ask whether its alternative text provides the right information.
Start by reading the headline, surrounding paragraphs, image caption, and alt text together.
Check whether the description adds useful information or simply repeats something readers already know.
You should also make sure that every detail is accurate. For example, verify names and locations before including them in an image description.
For charts and infographics, confirm that any supporting explanation accurately represents the data.
For linked images, check whether readers can understand the destination or action without seeing the image.
Once you’ve finished editing, preview the article on your website.
This is particularly important for news websites because the same image may appear in several locations.
For example, a featured image might appear in the article itself, on the homepage, within category archives, and in related post sections.
Although these areas use the same photograph, they may generate different HTML structures or alt text values.
Checking the Image block alone doesn’t guarantee that every version of the image displays the correct alternative text.
Inspect the final output to confirm that the descriptions appear as intended. You can also test the page with a screen reader to understand how visitors experience the content.
If you’re unsure about a description, ask another editor or the reporter who worked on the story to review it.
A quick review before publishing can help you avoid inaccurate descriptions and make your articles more accessible.
FAQ
Not every image needs a written description, but every image should have an appropriate alt attribute. News photographs that provide important information usually need descriptive alt text, while decorative images can use an empty alt attribute (alt=""). Consider what the image contributes to the article before deciding whether it needs a description.
There is no fixed word count for image alt text, but you should keep descriptions short and meaningful. For most news photographs, a brief phrase or sentence is enough to explain the important details. Avoid unnecessary information, but don’t leave out details that help readers understand the image. Complex images, such as charts and infographics, may need additional explanations elsewhere on the page.
Yes. Image alt text helps search engines understand what an image shows and how it relates to the surrounding content. Writing accurate, descriptive alt text can support your website’s image SEO and improve accessibility. You can include relevant keywords when they naturally describe the image, but avoid repeating keywords just to improve search rankings.
Yes, but only when the description accurately represents each image in its specific context. Even when you use the same photograph across different parts of your news website, its purpose may change. For example, an image inside an article may provide important visual details, while the same image on your homepage may act as a link to the story. Review each placement before deciding whether to reuse its alt text.
Not necessarily. WordPress stores alt text in the Media Library, but images already inserted into posts may use their own alternative text values. Changing the Media Library description doesn’t automatically update those existing values. To correct alt text in an older article, open the post, select the image, and update its Alternative Text field. Then preview the article to confirm the description appears correctly.
Final Thoughts
Good image alt text helps readers understand the visual information in your news articles, even when they cannot see the images themselves.
You don’t need to describe every detail in a photograph. Instead, focus on what matters to the story, use clear and accurate language, and avoid repeating headlines or unnecessary keywords.
Remember that different images require different approaches. News photographs usually need descriptions of important visual details, linked images may need to explain their purpose, and complex charts often require additional information.
WordPress makes it easy to add and manage alt text through its built-in editor and Media Library. If you’re using JNews, features such as ALT Image Fallback can provide additional support for your image SEO workflow.
However, no automatic solution can fully replace an editor’s understanding of the story.
By reviewing image alt text before publishing, you can make your news website more accessible while helping readers understand the information your images provide.