{"id":111153,"date":"2023-10-12T17:59:54","date_gmt":"2023-10-12T22:59:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/decoded\/\/\/improving-our-websites-accessibility-with-alt-text-for-charts\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T16:15:34","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T20:15:34","slug":"improving-our-websites-accessibility-with-alt-text-for-charts","status":"publish","type":"decoded","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/decoded\/2023\/10\/12\/improving-our-websites-accessibility-with-alt-text-for-charts\/","title":{"rendered":"Improving our website\u2019s accessibility with alt text for charts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A
Pew Research Center illustration<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In recent years, Pew Research Center has been thinking more intentionally about our website\u2019s accessibility and how we can improve it. A key component of this effort involves pushing our writers and researchers to think about alt text for the many charts we publish \u2013 and to do so from the very beginning of the editorial process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alt text, or alternative text<\/a>, is the descriptive text that is packaged with online images to help people with visual impairments. Alt text is generally read aloud by screen readers, presented visually in certain browsers and used by search engines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this post, I\u2019ll discuss the Center\u2019s (still-evolving) approach to improving our website\u2019s accessibility using alt text for charts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How we approached alt text in the past<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until recently, many of our publications didn\u2019t use alt text \u2013 even though most of our graphics are static images\u00a0that many screen readers can\u2019t process. And when we began to implement alt text, we didn\u2019t always do so in a consistent way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initially, our alt text simply referred to the type of chart we were showing, along with the chart\u2019s headline. This allowed us to convey the main finding of each chart without taking too much time to draft alt text amid the many other tasks involved in producing a publication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s an example of the general format we settled on for alt text, using a line chart from a 2021 blog post about Americans\u2019 views of labor unions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

ALT TEXT: A line chart showing that Democrats, Republicans have moved further apart in views of labor unions<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we added alt text in this format to our charts, our digital producers sometimes added more clarifying words or phrases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But as we began to use alt text more consistently, we found that using the chart headline format did not always lead to thorough and helpful alt text. In fact, some of our chart headlines are so broad that simply repeating them in the alt text may tell a reader very little about the charts themselves. And when the alt text doesn\u2019t mention other components of the chart \u2013 such as subheads, labels and notes \u2013 it can result in a loss of important context<\/a> and information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How we approach alt text today<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These days, we try to think \u201calt text first\u201d in our editorial process. Here are some of the things we\u2019re asking our writers and researchers to keep in mind as we increasingly prioritize website accessibility:<\/p>\n\n\n\n