How social media marketers can use alt text
Alt text makes social media images more accessible and may help content appear in search. Here is how marketers can add it.
Social media marketers can make image posts more accessible by adding alternative text, a written description attached to an image. In a guide for publishers, Sprout Social says the field helps people using screen readers understand visual content and can also improve a post’s chances of appearing in search.
Alt text conveys information that an image would otherwise communicate visually. Screen readers can turn that description into speech or braille for people who cannot see the image. It can also help people browsing with images disabled or encountering an image that does not load. Its primary purpose is accessibility, rather than promotion.
The field serves a different function from a post caption. Sprout advises marketers to describe what appears in the image instead of using the space for commentary, image credits, keywords or calls to action. Material that does not describe the visual can add unnecessary noise for someone listening through a screen reader.
The accessibility need extends beyond any single platform. Sprout cites a World Health Organization estimate that 1.3 billion people live with a significant disability. Many people with disabilities use screen readers, making descriptions of images an important part of ensuring that visual posts can be understood alongside their written copy.
Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, Threads and Pinterest offer native fields for alt text, according to the guide. Marketers can enter descriptions within each app when publishing. Sprout also presents its publishing platform as an option for adding descriptions across multiple networks in one workflow.
In Sprout Social’s Essentials plan, users can open an image in Compose, select the option to add alt text, write a description and save it. The company also says its AI Assist tool can analyze an image and produce a draft description in one click. Users can then review and edit the draft before publishing.
What this means for marketers
Adding alt text can be incorporated into the regular publishing process rather than treated as a separate campaign. Whether writing descriptions in individual apps or using a publishing tool, marketers should keep the field focused on the image and check any AI-generated draft before it goes live. Captions, promotional language and credits can remain outside the description field.
This is an original summary published for informational purposes; all rights to the underlying reporting belong to the source.
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