Write image descriptions to help screen readers and search engines understand your site's content.

Alt text is a short written description added to an image to make them more accessible to visitors. It's generally not visible as plain text on the page, but screen readers read it aloud to visitors, browsers display it when an image doesn't load, and search engines use it to identify content on your site.

Some images automatically use other text as alt text, but image blocks and auto layouts only have alt text if you add it.

Video on adding alt text to images

Watch this video for alt text best practices and steps to add alt text to different images on your site.

Write effective alt text

When writing alt text:

• Describe the image the way you would to someone who couldn't see it.
• Include relevant keywords naturally, but avoid keyword stuffing.
• Keep it short, usually 150 to 200 characters.
• Leave out words like "the" and "a," and terms like "photo" or "picture." For example, instead of a picture of a green vase, use green vase.
• Use spaces between words, not hyphens.

Generate alt text with Squarespace AI

Using Squarespace AI to generate alt text is only available in Fluid Engine sections on version 7.1.

The SEO report tool finds images on your site that don't have alt text and suggests descriptions you can review, edit, and save. It checks for missing alt text in image blocks, gallery sections, and auto layouts. The tool doesn't scan images added to collection items.

To generate alt text with the SEO report tool:

1. Open the SEO/AI Visibility panel.
2. In the Your SEO Completion Score section, click Improve with AI.
3. Review the images flagged as missing alt text, then click Edit or Regenerate to edit suggested text.
4. When you're ready to add the suggested text, click Save and continue.

Tip: Help ensure your image sizes, filenames, and alt text are optimized for search engines and visitors by connecting the TinyIMG extension. Our support team can help you connect or disconnect Squarespace Extensions, but we can’t troubleshoot issues with their use. For all other questions, contact the extensions provider directly.

Add alt text to image blocks

Image blocks have a specific alt text field in the block editor. If you don't add alt text there, no alt text displays. Without alt text, the block won't be visible to assistive technologies, like screen readers.

To add alt text to an image block:

Add alt text to auto layout images

Auto layouts are available in version 7.1.

Auto layouts have a specific alt text field in the section editor. If you don't add alt text there, no alt text displays. Without alt text, the block won't be visible to assistive technologies, like screen readers.

To add alt text to images in auto layout sections:

1. Open the Pages panel.
2. Click the page with the auto layout, then click Edit.
3. Hover over the auto layout section and click Edit Content.
4. Click the Content tab.
5. Click the image you want to add alt text to.
6. Under Image alt text, enter your alt text. If the image doesn't appear in the Content tab, click Elements and switch the Show image toggle on.
7. Click Back, then repeat for every image in the auto layout.
8. Click Save.

Add alt text to product images

You can add alt text of up to 200 characters to any product image. If you don't add alt text, the product name becomes alt text.

To add alt text to a product image:

1. Open the Pages panel.
2. Click the store page, then click into a category or click All.
3. Hover over the product image, click ..., then click Edit metadata.
4. Add your text to the Alt text field.
5. Click Apply, then click Save.

Add alt text to Email Campaigns image, blog, and product sections

In Squarespace Email Campaigns, you can add alt text to images, blog posts, and products you add to your campaigns. If you don't add alt text to these sections, no alt text displays. It's not possible to add alt text to images or logos in the campaign header.

To add alt text in a campaign:

1. Open Email Campaigns.
2. Click Drafts, then hover over a draft and click the pencil icon.
3. In the draft, click an image section, blog section, or product section.
4. In the right panel, click the image, blog post, or product where you want to add alt text.
5. Add alt text under Image alt text. The alt text saves automatically.

Images on your site that use other text fields as alt text

Most images on your site don't have a specific alt text field but instead automatically use a related text field for alt text. For example, a gallery section image uses the description as alt text.

Review the table for what text each image type uses.

What happens if I don't add alt text?

For most areas on your site, an image's file name acts as alt text if there isn't any other alt text added. We recommend following our alt text best practices when you create image file names for your images, but if you've already uploaded images, you can update their file names in the Asset library.

Are there images that I can't add alt text to?

Yes. Some images don't support alt text, including:

• Section background images - Decorative images, like abstract background images or graphics separating content, generally don't require descriptions. If you need a workaround, you can try custom code, but we can't offer help setting up or troubleshooting code-based solutions.
• Video block custom thumbnail images - The file name appears in the image's static URL, but not as alt text.