Add alt text to images in an EPUB

If you include images in your EPUB book, use alt text (alternative text) to ensure accessibility and provide meaningful context for customers using screen readers.

Screen readers give customers the option to hear text, including alt text, read aloud. When customers using screen readers come to an image in your book, the alt text helps them better understand what the image is about and what it means to the story.

Alt text is an attribute of an image element contained within the HTML <img> tag. Place the alt attribute after the src (image source) attribute, and include text in quotation marks that describes the image. Here's an example:

<img class="background" src="images/page2/page2.jpg" alt="a girl with golden hair in front of a blue sky" />

girl in front of blue sky

To make your EPUB book accessible to all readers, add the alt attribute to every image. If the image is decorative and doesn't have any content or meaning, you can use the attribute alt="". Don't use these alt attributes:

  • alt="none"
  • alt="nothing"
  • alt="image"
  • alt="page 3"

Learn more about accessibility features on Mac and iOS.

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