Every image on your website has or should have an alt attribute in its HTML code. It looks like this:
<img src="volunteers.jpg" alt="Three volunteers planting trees in a city park" />
When the image loads normally, the alt text is invisible. But when it doesn't because someone is using a screen reader, because the image failed to load, or because a search engine is crawling your page that alt text is what's read or indexed instead of the image itself.
Who uses alt text?
The most important audience for alt text is people who use screen readers software that reads web page content aloud for people who are blind or have significant vision impairment. Screen readers encounter the alt attribute and read its value aloud. Without it, the reader might say "image" or read a meaningless file name like DSC00847.jpg.
But alt text also matters for:
- Search engines. Google cannot see images the way a person does. Alt text is one of the primary ways search engines understand what an image contains, which affects both image search rankings and the overall context of the page.
- Slow connections. On a very slow connection, images may fail to load. The alt text appears in the image's place, so at least the visitor knows what they're missing.
- People who turn off images. Some people disable images in their browser for speed or bandwidth reasons. Alt text ensures content still makes sense.
Why it's especially important for nonprofits
Nonprofits rely on imagery to tell their stories. Photos of the people you serve, events you run, volunteers in action, communities you support these images carry emotional weight that text alone can't replicate. But if those images have no alt text, a screen reader user experiences none of that story. They navigate a page of meaningful visuals and encounter nothing.
For an organization whose mission involves inclusion, equity, or community service, this is a contradiction worth taking seriously. Your website should be accessible to everyone including people with disabilities who might be donors, volunteers, beneficiaries, or staff.
In nearly every accessibility audit we conduct, missing or poor alt text is the most frequently cited issue. It's also one of the simplest to fix no developer required on most content management systems.
What good alt text looks like
The goal of alt text is to convey the same meaning or information that a sighted person would get from looking at the image. It doesn't have to be long usually one or two sentences is plenty. Focus on what's meaningful, not what's visible.
For a photo of a program in action:
Bad: alt="photo" or alt="IMG_1203.jpg"
Better: alt="A volunteer reading a picture book to two children at a library table"
For a headshot on your team page:
Bad: alt="staff"
Better: alt="Maria Torres, Executive Director of Riverside Community Foundation"
For a chart or infographic:
Bad: alt="chart"
Better: alt="Bar chart showing a 40% increase in meals served from 2023 to 2025"
If a chart is complex, consider adding a visible caption or a text summary near the image as well this benefits all users, not just those using screen readers.
What about decorative images?
Not every image needs descriptive alt text. Images that are purely decorative abstract backgrounds, visual dividers, icons used alongside text labels should have an empty alt attribute: alt="". This tells screen readers to skip the image entirely, which reduces noise and keeps the experience clean.
The key distinction is whether the image conveys information. If removing the image would cause a user to miss something meaningful, it needs alt text. If the image is purely visual decoration, use alt="".
How to add alt text in common nonprofit website platforms
Most content management systems make it easy to add alt text without touching code:
- WordPress: When you upload or edit an image in the media library, there's an "Alt Text" field on the right side.
- Squarespace: Click on any image block, then select "Edit" to find the alt text field.
- Wix: Click an image, select "Settings," and find the "What's in the image?" field.
- Webflow: Select an image in the designer, and the alt text field appears in the right-hand settings panel.
How to audit your existing images
If you have an established website with dozens or hundreds of images, the thought of reviewing every single one can feel overwhelming. Start with the most-visited pages: your homepage, your About page, your programs or services pages, and your donate page. These are the pages where missing alt text will affect the most people.
From there, a formal accessibility audit will give you a complete picture of which images across your entire site lack alt text organized by page and severity, so you can work through them systematically rather than guessing where to look.