Why Social Media Alt Text Is More Important Than Ever

If you could make every post connect with more people while also boosting discoverability, why wouldn’t you? That’s exactly what social media alt text helps you do.

Social media alt text is a social media accessibility feature that lets anyone, regardless of visual ability, use a screen reader to understand what your photos, videos and thumbnails feature. Beyond accessibility, it adds clear context about your content, which can help with social media search.

Without alt text, your social media posts are not fully optimized. To help your team create the best alt text imaginable, we’re diving into what alt text is, why it matters and sharing tips to enhance your copy.

Alt text is a short, written description of an image. Screen readers use it to describe visuals to people who are blind or have low vision. It also appears when images fail to load, so the meaning of the post isn’t lost.

On social, alt text lives behind the image. Most people won’t see it in the feed, but anyone using assistive tech will hear it read aloud. You add alt text when you upload a single photo, video, or carousel to your social channel. Most major platforms support it, and several (Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn) will even auto-generate a draft. Treat that draft as a starting point and edit it to reflect what you actually want users to understand.

Remember, alt text isn’t a second caption. Keep it factual and specific to the image. Mention the key subject, important text on the graphic, and any context someone would miss without seeing the visual. Skip hashtags, @mentions, and marketing copy. Before adding alt text, ask yourself, “If I couldn’t see this image, does this copy bring a strong visual to mind?”

Your caption can carry personality and keywords, but alt text should be descriptive.

Alt text matters because it makes your images understandable to people and machines. This clarity improves inclusivity, accessibility, and gives platforms more context to classify what you posted, helping social platforms share your content to the most relevant audiences.

It also supports discoverability inside the apps. Alt text helps the Instagram algorithm interpret the subject of a photo or graphic, which makes in-app search and recommendations more relevant. Instagram’s top signals still come from behavior like watch time, likes, and shares, so think of alt text as valuable context rather than a ranking hack.

Alt text contributes to social media SEO outside apps, too. In July 2025, Instagram began allowing public content from professional accounts to be indexed by Google, which means eligible posts can appear in web search. Clear, descriptive alt text strengthens topical relevance when your posts surface in those results. 

Including alt text in your social media posts also demonstrates a brand’s mindfulness and commitment to inclusivity. Not catering their content to just one audience segment ensures that anyone can absorb their content, regardless of ability. 

Ultimately, write alt text that names the core subject, important on-image text, and any essential context. You’ll make posts accessible, help platform systems understand your visuals, and be better positioned for both in-app discovery and Google results as social content becomes indexable.

To write the best alt text possible, think of your main goal: make images understandable. Great alt text gives people using screen readers a clear picture of what’s in front of them digitally, and gives platforms the context they need to classify your post. 

Think of alt text as the plain-language version of your visual. Keep it concise, specific, and useful. The following tips will help your team write alt text that holds up across channels and formats:

1. Keep It Concise and Focused

When writing alt text, aim for around 125-200 characters or 1–2 sentences. This amount of detail provides context without overwhelming screen readers. Cover the subject, key details, and any critical context. If you need more, trim to what someone must know to grasp the image.

Example: “Three pairs of white Sandy Liang socks with floral prints, text, and ribbon detailing.”

2. Lead With Key Information

It’s important to start with the most pertinent part of your visual. If someone hears only the first few words, they should still get the gist. Order details by relevance, not by how you’d describe it casually.

Example of a good alt text: “Man in tropical shirt poses playfully on baseball field with empty stadium seats behind him.” 

Example of a poor alt text: “Man spreads arms in a field.”

3. Skip ‘Image Of’ or Emojis

Skip redundant mentions of ‘image of’, since screen readers already identify images. What’s more, emojis and other decorative elements can confuse screen reader technology, so be sure to keep your text clean and simple. 

Here’s an example of bad alt text: “📷 Image of our new dress 😍”

And a better version of alt text for the same image: “Woman in gingham dress with eyelet collar holds woven bag beside outdoor picnic table spread.”

4. Be Neutral and Descriptive

Use clear, factual language. Skip marketing jargon and focus on meaningfully describing visuals, without calls-to-action or other verbiage that doesn’t support description. Concrete nouns and precise modifiers beat buzzwords.

Example of well-written alt text for this TikTok post: “Grid of six smiling yellow face icons on Starface cases with colorful star patches on a bright yellow background.”

5. Include Any On-Image Text

If a graphic contains overlaid text (e.g., a quote, product label or even logo), include the text verbatim in your alt text so no one misses essential information. Keep the order logical, and if helpful, identify the type of graphic.

Example of an effective alt text for an image with text: “Movie review graphic: Four shocked characters from Disney’s Freaky Friday with ‘Family-Friendly Fun’ quote overlayed.”

What is the point of alt text on Instagram?

The point of Instagram alt text is to make content more accessible by providing screen readers with image descriptions, ensuring visually impaired users can understand and engage with posts. It also offers an SEO benefit, helping Instagram better index and surface content in search results.

What is an example of alt text?

Knowing what to include or not include in your alt text description can be challenging. Here’s an example of alt text: “A woman wearing an oversized black suit and burgundy tie from The Frankie Shop, sitting against a windowpane.” This type of description is clear, concise, and gives context without unnecessary detail.

How do I override auto-generated alt text on platforms like Facebook or Instagram?

Here’s how to add your own unique alt text on Instagram: 

• Before posting, select ‘Accessibility’ and write your alt text in the provided field.
• Hit publish. Your post is now live with custom alt text.

Here’s how to override autogenerated alt text on Facebook:

• After you’ve selected the photo you want to add, click the pencil icon to edit.
• Select ‘Alternative text’ from the left-hand side menu.
• The auto-generated alt text can be found on the left side of your photo. 
• From there, click ‘Custom alt text’ to edit.
• If you’d like to revert back to the auto-generated alt text, click the circle beside the original text. 
• Hit ‘Save’ in the bottom left corner.