Yahoo! espouses benefits of Alt tags

16 July 2007

Yahoo! is encouraging webmasters to make use of the alternative text (Alt) tag for images in order to ensure they target the widest audience possible.

A post on the search engine's Yodel Anecdotal blog urges online marketers to fill in the necessary details to ensure their Alt tags are correctly picked up by screen readers.

In this way, the website suggests that the visually impaired may be included within sales efforts to maximise the potential market.

WebProNews staff writer David Utter stresses the implications for those looking to instigate a more effective online marketing campaign.

"Web developers of all sorts should be as mindful of their images and Alt text, especially in e-commerce," he writes.

"Just because someone uses a screen reader doesn't preclude them from becoming a loyal customer."

Meanwhile, the text could offer an additional means of repeating key terms included for search engine optimisation purposes.

A recent Google blog post warned that the inclusion of too many graphical elements on a page could damage its search ranking due to the lack of text recognisable by search engines.

Category: Yahoo