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Enhancing Image Accessibility with an AI Alt Text Generator
Gokulnath B
April 18, 2024

Enhancing Image Accessibility with an AI Alt Text Generator

As technology constantly develops, digital wonders will never stop popping up. Humanity takes pride in amalgamating innovation with inclusivity and not just base necessity. With more than 2.2 billion people experiencing visual impairments, every business and individual will agree that it is paramount to improve image accessibility beyond what the WGAC mandates for business continuity.

Images speak a thousand words, and businesses must invest as much creativity into providing thoughtful and effective alt text as they do while curating images and videos so that they can effectively communicate to all users who are interested and not just those who are able.

This article dives into alt text, how it is used, what an AI alt text generator can do, and how it enhances content accessibility to equip you with the gravity of this practice.

Ready to expand your business inclusivity effectively? Let’s get reading!

Table of Contents:

Quick Recap: The Basics of Alt Text

Alternative text, now shortened to alt text, is just text. But, like all words, its impact lies in where it is used. Alt text is a description that comes with images and plays a crucial role in boosting web accessibility for the visually impaired. 

Since photos and videos have become an integral part of communication in both professional and social aspects, alt text promotes inclusivity by delivering the content message and description to everyone.

How is Alt Text Used?

Just adding text that accompanies images makes it a bit vague. Questions like how alt text is seen and not images tend to pop up. Alt text is inputted into a specific part of the content’s code. Often, on social media, you can add alt text under each image before posting a picture, almost like a descriptive caption. 

To paint a picture, let’s imagine that the alt text is right behind the picture. See past the image, and you’ll see the alt text. Those who wish to interpret the given images connect their devices with assistive technologies such as screen readers and text-to-speech software. These devices read out the image’s alt text, thus describing it and allowing the reader to understand and even imagine what the content looks like.

Pairing these devices and all the images and alt text is an effective bridge for whoever needs it.

Also Read: 5 Key Steps to Writing Alt Text that Makes Images of People Accessible and Engaging

What is an AI Alt Text Generator?

Now that we understand the basics of alt text, let’s get to the star of this show: the AI alt text generator.

With innovative and adaptive technologies, AI alt text generators are designed to generate descriptive alt text for you. Based on their machine learning (ML) algorithms, these systems analyze visual content fed into them, processing other vital features like objects and scenes in the image to form consistent, creative, and meaningful alt text.

Along with the analysis, an AI alt text generator can either form a context around the image or accept inputs on the context, cultural nuances, and location-specific norms around which the alt text must be created. 

While the algorithms play a massive role in AI alt text generators, for more effective results, they need access to vast datasets for training. This improves the software’s ability to recognize more diverse images more accurately. Like all ML models, their accuracy and capabilities are refined over time and constant practice.

The Challenges AI Alt Text Generator Overcomes

With this software’s vast potential, the challenges that could be mitigated with the help of an AI alt text generator are enormous. Here are four key challenges that it helps overcome!

1. Scalability

While scaling up their business, companies are forced to review how scalable their resources are. This often produces challenges regarding the ability to handle an increased workload.

If content volumes need to be increased, be it twofold or tenfold, an AI alt text generator overcomes the challenge of scalability by seamlessly handling large volumes of diverse images.

2. Consistency

While manually crafted alt text gives way to meticulously crafted content, it often lacks a guarantee of quality and consistency. Each human-generated alt text could be different, and when read out by tools like screen readers, it gives the brand a weaker foundation.

The challenge of consistency is nipped in the bud with the help of AI alt text generators as it ensures with effective prompts, uniform, and consistent alt text is delivered no matter the image.

3. Monotony

This challenge is simple but deadly. Monotony leads to infinite problems, ranging from motivation to create alt text to a drop in content quality. With the help of AI alt text generators, the process is automated and streamlined, allowing businesses to assign non-repetitive tasks and reduce monotony.

4. Language Barriers

For communication to be effective, a language that can be understood will be preferred. With language barriers blocking the chances of getting the message and tone across, businesses could end up with misunderstandings and negative images.

Through AI-powered multilingual alt-text generation, clear, descriptive texts can be crafted in languages that your target audiences across the globe need to hear.

The Benefits it Brings to the Table

Breaking multiple barriers as it grows, an AI alt text generator does not just clear the pathway for smoother operations; it also brings tangible rewards. Here are its four key benefits,

1. The Bottom Line

With the help of an AI alt text generator, every business can potentially reduce the financial burden of manual alt text creation.

This AI-driven solution’s automated aspect is a smart and cost-effective move for businesses looking to enhance inclusivity, expand their audience reach, and maintain a green bottom line.

2. Resource Optimization

Optimizing human resources for building innovations is crucial. Expert alt-text generators can optimize resources more efficiently and focus on continuous improvement without sacrificing a fundamental and legal aspect of their content.

3. Search Engine Visibility

With the ML algorithms that an AI alt text generator uses, this tool is better equipped to drive a content’s SEO rankings. Images that embrace and include alt text have a stronger chance of boosting search engine visibility.

4. Instant Brand Voice Customization

Through customized prompts and coding patterns fed into an AI alt text generator, businesses can incorporate context, organizational goals, and targets to breathe their unique brand voice into each descriptive alt text.

Also Read: Unboxing Accessibility: Your Guide to Born-Accessible Design

Delivering Eye-Opening Experiences

As we have covered in this piece, alt text plays a crucial role in expanding your audience reach to 2.2 billion more people and tremendously boosts your business’ commitment to fostering inclusivity.

But with AI-driven alt text, you gain more than just the benefit of inclusivity. An AI alt text generator helps overcome language barriers and scalability, enhances your brand voice, and can even boost your content’s SEO ranking.

With all these advantages at play, a business must embrace AI-driven accessibility. The experts at Hurix Digital have crafted a thoughtful and efficient AI alt text generator called Equalsense that makes it a perfect fit for you.

So, without further ado, let’s create a compelling blend of creative alt text where you don’t need to hold back on your creativity in your images and can freely communicate with your potential customers through your content!

Contact us now to get started!