Which alt text is best for screen readers for example "smiling kid"?

Question

Which would be good write ALT text for a photo of kid which is smiling and sitting in garden?

This

alt="Photo of smiling kid sitting in the garden"

or this

alt="Photo of smiling kid"

or this

alt="Smiling kid sitting in the garden"

or this

alt="Smiling kid"

my purpose is to ask this question, I want to know should we include "Photo of..." in every alt text and And how much we should describe the photo in alt text.

Answer 1

It depends on the context but make it as short as possible without leaving out important information. As a screen reader user I like short alt text that gets to the point so I don't have to listen to lots of pointless descriptions. alt="Photo of smiling kid” is too long. Jaws announces the fact that it’s reading a graphic so alt=”smiling kid” would be better since it saves two words I don’t have to listen to. Only put information that is important in the alt tag. For example if the fact that the kid is in a garden isn’t important don’t put it in the alt tag. If the fact that the kid is in a garden is critical information that the reader must know then put it in the alt tag.