Glossary / Instagram

Industry terms

Alt text

Alt text is a short written description of an image that screen readers read aloud, so people who can't see the picture know what it shows.

Also called: alternative text, image description, Instagram alt text

By Aulto · Last reviewed

Does Instagram add alt text by itself?

Yes. Instagram's automatic alt text uses object recognition to describe photos. It is generic, though, so a description you write yourself is far more useful.

How do you add your own on Instagram?

Before sharing, open Advanced settings and choose Write alt text. On a post that is already live, edit the post and choose Edit alt text; each image in a carousel gets its own.

What makes good alt text?

Describe what matters, in plain words: who is in the picture, what they're doing and any text on it. For cover art, include the release name. Skip "image of", since screen readers already say it is an image.

Example

A Kolkata singer writes alt text for her single's cover: "Cover art for Monsoon Letters: a woman in a yellow raincoat on a tram, title in white handwriting."

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Sources

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