Content authors can now choose to use or override alt text when adding an image to a page field.
Alt text is essential for all informative or functional images on your website. You can add alt text to images in the Files Library and that alt text will apply when content authors use that image on a page.
Content authors can also add alt text as they add images to pages and using the Description field when linking images to galleries. If you have set alt text for an image in the Files Library, that alt text will be used in any page fields in which a content author uses that image. If you then update the alt text in the File Library, the alt text will also update on any page fields the image was attached to.
However, if the content author checks the box to Override alt text from asset library for image fields or Override Description for image link fields, they can change the existing alt text, and the alt text they add will remain the same even if you update the image in the Files Library.
Here's what you need to know about overriding alt text:
- This feature allows you to add default alt text so images still have alt text if a content author doesn't add it.
- It is available for page upload fields, such as the main image field for pages, and image link fields, like those for image galleries. The override feature is unavailable when using the image manager in the WYSIWYG Editor. It also does not apply to content files.
- Existing images on your site pages will be treated as if the content author has overridden the alt text so that no existing alt text will be overridden.
- If the alt text is left blank in the Files Library, the file name is used as alt text by default.
You may choose to train your content authors in how to write alt text and instruct them to override the alt text because images are often used on a page for a specific purpose, and your alt text should reflect that.
However, we still recommend you add alt text for all uploaded files so that there is default alt text in case a content author forgets to add it.