Choose useful website images and write better alt text.

1. Give the image a clear job

Ask what a reader would lose if you removed the image. A setup photo might identify the parts in a kit; a screenshot might show where a setting lives. A decorative flourish may contribute atmosphere without adding information. Those uses call for different treatment.

Write a short image brief before searching: subject, purpose, placement, required shape, and any detail that must stay visible on a phone. For a logo, use the approved original asset at its natural proportions. For a documented test, use genuine evidence from that test rather than an illustration that could be mistaken for a result.

2. Record the usage terms with the file

Keep the creator or owner, source address, permission or license, and any required credit together. Read the actual terms for your intended use, including editing and commercial publication. A downloadable file is not, by itself, an explanation of your permission to publish it.

As one specific example, CC BY 4.0 allows sharing and adaptation, including commercial use, subject to its terms. Those include appropriate credit, a license link, and an indication of changes. Creative Commons also notes that privacy, publicity, or other rights may require additional permissions. Do not treat every Creative Commons license or every image as having identical conditions.

Sources: [1]

3. Match the text alternative to the purpose

W3C’s image guidance distinguishes informative, functional, complex, and decorative images. A brief alternative can communicate a simple image’s meaning. An image acting as an otherwise unlabeled link needs the destination or action conveyed. A complex chart needs its information available beyond a short alt attribute. Purely decorative images can use an empty alternative.

These examples depend on context. Revisit the alternative if you move the same image into a different role.

Sources: [2]

4. Keep the image close to its explanation

Google recommends placing images near relevant text, using descriptive filenames, and writing useful alt text without stuffing it with keywords. A caption can identify a source, date, or limitation for everyone reading the page. Keep important instructions in readable page text rather than only inside a graphic.

Prepare a copy sized for its actual placement while keeping the original. Check that compression has not blurred the detail the image is meant to explain. Preserve the aspect ratio, and inspect crops at both desktop and mobile widths so a key label or object does not disappear.

Sources: [3]

5. Review the whole page after adding it

Read the surrounding paragraph and text alternative together. Remove unnecessary repetition and check that names, quantities, and visible features are accurate. If the image links somewhere, make sure the accessible name communicates that destination and the link works.

Then preview the page on a narrow screen and with images unavailable, where practical. Is the main explanation still understandable? Can the reader find any essential data elsewhere on the page? Finish by checking the credit and source record so future edits can reuse the image responsibly without reconstructing its history.