Does the img tag's alt attribute require encoding?

Question

In html does the text inside the img tag's alt attribute require encoding/escaping?

Non encoded example:

<img src="myimg.png" alt="image description" />

Encoded example:

<img src="myimg.png" alt="image%20description" />

Answer 1

No, it does not need to be encoded like a URI. However, HTML characters must be encoded, like this...

<img src="myimg.png" alt="Me &amp; my image" />