“Cassette on a table” leaves out the detail that might matter: a handwritten track list beside a black cassette. Alt text is the short text alternative attached to an image. A screen reader can announce it, and it may appear if the image fails to load. It needn’t account for everything in the frame; it should convey what the image adds to this part of the page.
Decide what the image is doing
Look at the image where it appears, not in isolation. Does it support a claim, identify a person or release, function as a link, or simply add atmosphere? A close-up of a cassette label in a review might call for its legible title and handwritten numbering. The same photograph behind a heading might need no spoken description.
Hide the image and read the heading, caption, and surrounding paragraph. What information is missing? Describe that, rather than listing every object in the frame. If nothing meaningful is lost, the image may be decorative. In HTML, decorative images generally use an empty alt attribute, alt="", so assistive technology can pass over them. Leaving out the attribute can instead prompt a screen reader to announce the file name.
On a music site, a portrait that identifies a musician, a photograph of an unusual instrument setup, and a signal-flow diagram each carry information. A faint texture behind a review title may not. The alt attribute overview explains the HTML mechanism; deciding what belongs in the description takes knowledge of why the image is on the page.
Describe meaning before appearance
Lead with the subject and the detail the reader needs. If a photograph illustrates a performance technique, “Performer adjusting a contact microphone on a metal sheet” says more than “Person in dark clothes on a stage.” If the point is the venue layout, describe that instead. Alt text isn’t a permanent label that follows a photograph everywhere it appears.
Be concise without treating a character limit as a rule. One short sentence often does the job; a complex diagram may need a fuller explanation elsewhere on the page. Skip “Image of” and “Photo of” unless the medium itself matters. A screen reader generally announces that the element is an image.
Stick to what the image can establish. Someone beside a mixing desk is not necessarily performing live. An audience may visibly be smiling, but “enjoying the set” assigns a feeling the photograph cannot confirm. The same caution applies to sounds, identities, and materials. Still images of noise, drone, and field-recording practices can invite stories about the process that the image itself does not support.
Use the surrounding text to avoid repetition
If a caption says “A handheld recorder placed beside a stream,” repeating it in the alt text makes for a clumsy read-aloud sequence. “Recorder resting on rocks at the water’s edge” might add something if that placement matters. A name or location that cannot be established by looking at the image belongs in the caption, where its source and context can be explained.
On a page about listening to location, such as an account of field recording in Japanese experimental music, a photograph of a recorder may show how a sound was captured. Describe the visible setup in the alt text; leave what was recorded and why the setting matters to the article.
Handle common image types differently
- Portraits: Name the person if their identity is known and relevant. Add a useful visible detail if needed, such as “Musician seated behind a table of small electronic devices.” Never guess a name from appearance.
- Release artwork: Identify the release in nearby text or, when the image is the main means of identification, in the alt text. Describe visual details if the article discusses them. A long review or promotional blurb does not belong in the attribute.
- Images of text: Put essential wording in accessible page text whenever possible. A photographed flyer’s date, venue, and access information belong in readable HTML, not solely in alt text. The alt text can identify the flyer and note something the transcription does not convey.
- Charts and diagrams: Give the main point briefly, then provide the full data or a step-by-step explanation nearby, in text or a table. “Diagram showing the microphone feeding a recorder before the effects chain” is more useful than “Audio equipment diagram.”
- Linked images: Describe the destination or action. If cover art alone links to a review, “Review of [release title]” helps more than “Square album cover”—provided the title has been checked.
- Decorative images: Use empty alt text when an image adds no information or function beyond what the page already supplies.
These are decisions, not stock descriptions. Cover artwork inside a review serves a different purpose from the same artwork linking to that review in an archive grid.
Write within the limits of what you know
Independent music archives contain scans with partial labels, unidentified performers, and photographs passed down without complete metadata. Do not let alt text turn a guess into a fact. “Cassette with a partly legible handwritten label” is better than an invented release title. If the writing seems to say something but cannot be confirmed, explain that uncertainty in the article or caption.
File names are no substitute for checking. An upload called live-set-final2.jpg could show a rehearsal, a soundcheck, or something unrelated. Look at the image and the publication record. Nor is alt text a place for search terms: “Japanese noise cassette underground experimental music tape” neither describes the image nor explains its role.
Mention color or composition when it helps distinguish an object or explain a point. “Two red cables connect the mixer to a recorder” can clarify a setup; “red, black, and gray objects on a brown table” usually cannot. If a diagram uses color to indicate an instruction or category, state that meaning in text too.
Check the published page, not just the draft
- Read the page without images. Check that essential names, dates, instructions, and chart data are still available in text.
- Read alt text with captions and links. Cut needless repetition and check that a linked image announces its destination.
- Inspect the rendered HTML. Meaningful images need appropriate alt attributes; decorative ones need
alt="". A media-library description may not appear unchanged on every page. - Listen with a screen reader if possible. The sequence of heading, link, image, and caption can expose awkward duplication that is easy to miss on screen.
A content management system may reuse one media-library alt field in several places. If that text works in a release review but not on a linked archive card, edit the image block or link label on that page where the system allows it. One global description cannot always do both jobs.
For a final check, find an image whose alt text says only “equipment.” If the paragraph depends on a visible relationship, name it: “Contact microphone attached to a metal tray beside a small mixer.” If the relationship is irrelevant there, ask whether the image needs descriptive alt text at all.