This example shows two image icons – one of a telephone, one of a fax machine. A phone number follows each image. Consistent with the visual presentation, the text alternatives “Telephone:” and “Fax:” are used to identify the device associated with each number.
Example 2: Images used to supplement other information
The following image shows a dog wearing a bell. It supplements the adjacent text that explains the purpose of this bell. A short text alternative is sufficient to describe the information that is displayed visually but is not explained in the text; in this case, the text alternative is “Dog with a bell attached to its collar.”.
Example 3: Images conveying succinct information
This simple diagram illustrates a counter-clockwise direction for unscrewing a bottle top or cap. The information can be described in a short sentence, so the text alternative “Push the cap down and turn it counter-clockwise (from right to left)” is given in the alt attribute.
Example 4: Images conveying an impression or emotion
This photograph shows a happy family group. It’s a stock image so the individuals should not be identified. It’s being used to give the impression that the website or the company it represents is family-friendly. The text alternative is “We’re family-friendly” as this best describes the intended impression.
Example 5: Images conveying file format
In this example, a document is available to download in three different
formats identified by format icons within text links. They have the text
alternatives “HTML”, “Word document”, and “PDF” to distinguish the file
type for each link: