Pros and Cons of applying alt texts in image components on Sites vs the image descriptions in Experience Manager Assets

[ShaylaBl]

Alt text can be applied to certain image components in Sites and via image descriptions in Asset Manager, looking to better understand the draws and setbacks of each approach. Would appreciate all contributions as we're wagering accessibility and SEO in our alt text!

Thank you. 

[Rite18]

 both are used for different purposes  

ALT - A concise description of an image screen reader 

Description: longer and more in-depth than alt text, can be further for web page/component etc but not for screenreader

[Shashi_Mulugu]

@ShaylaBl alttext, captions, description can be either managed in AEM sites component or managed at central place such as Asset metadata.

Few things to consider: 

If managed at sites page components:

• Flexibility to manage along with page content
• Can be different for different pages based on context of page if though same image is used.
• Can leverage easily translation flow.

If managed at assets:

• Central asset location
• Consistent across your site and other channels
• Lower translation cost as it's same but have to setup MSM for assets.

So if you separate sites and assets departments working independently , who manages translation costs, is your content and assets ops team different etc makes to decide which option to choose.

[Dipti_Chauhan · Accepted solution]

Hi @ShaylaBl 

For this its better to go with mixed approach - giving the option to provide alt text for each component, but also having a fallback at the DAM level if author does not want specific alt text at component level.

[arunpatidar]

Hi @ShaylaBl 

Here is an example of the core image component's alt text fallback method using the page description, but you can also set up a fallback from DAM.

[ShaylaBl]

Hi @Dipti_Chauhan,

Thank your this answer!

Considering the mixed approach for alt text application, do you have any guidance on which component is most advantageous for applying alt text?  According to my team, we have several image components that accept alt text. Would the core image component still be our best bet or does it make a discernible difference which component we utilize? 

[EstebanBustamante]

Hi,

The most important thing to keep in mind is to set an alternative text (alt) for your images, as this improves both accessibility and SEO scores. However, there isn't a standardized method for setting the alt attribute, which is why you may have questions.

If you use the WCM Core Image component, you have specific options: you can set the "alt" text directly, inherit it from the asset metadata, or pull it from the page description. My point is that it's not necessarily about using "description" or "alt" from a component—it's about ensuring that the alt attribute is set appropriately. Some components may rely on the description, while others may offer the option to choose. Regardless, the key is to use whichever method allows you to set the alternative text you want for your image.

Hope this helps.

[Rite18]

i would suggest as a best practice to

- Use Asset to have ALT and Description so details are centralized to DAM and later can be used by web/ marketing application so if same assets is used for marketing activity can have same ALT/Description and now a days assets scope is not limited to AEM site component. Details define at assets level will be inherited to consume application example Site or Marketo

- At the child/ consuming application based on the use case author/developer /marketer can override details if needed

Overall defining at Assets level bring in more consistency and reusability  

[ShaylaBl]

Thank you to all community members who contributed, this was a very helpful!