Alt Tags

Is it still worth filling them in?

[wrreisen]

Are alt tags still taken into account a little if they have keywords in by major search engines?

Thank you.

[benihana]

for the SE's - probably very little (if any) impact.

for people who use screen readers or have images turned off - huge impact.

[Marcia]

Include the alt attibute. First of all, its main purpose is for usability; and if you put pages through a validator it'll bring up all kinds of error messages if the alt attributes are missing, which can be very annoying. Some people surf with images disabled and may appreciate being able to know what's on the site - and more so with visually challenged who have to depend on screen readers.

Regardless of whether or how much value is placed by search engines today, there's no guarantee of the situation staying the same. Algos aren't fixed, and weighting is liable to change at any time. The best thing to do is to be prepared, and be kind to users.

[ukgimp]

accessibility issues.

Do it, it is worth it. Not all people are on cable. Some surf without images, and with no alt tags it gets tricky to see what the hell is going on

[pageoneresults]

Some surf without images, and with no alt tags it gets tricky to see what the hell is going on.

True. But, this is only true if the alt attribute is used correctly. If it stuffed with a comma separated list of keyword phrases and/or text that is not descriptive of the image, then they are useless from a usability/accessibility standpoint.

[ukgimp]

correct usage goes without saying and to be fair if people are stuffing alt tags they need to update their methods a little :)

[Marcia]

>>if people are stuffing alt tags they need to update their methods a little

If they stuff, they'll be missing out on some good opportunity right now. But "I ain't talking while the flavor lasts." Not a word. ;)

>>still taken into account

Yes, they are a good thing. Use them, and use them wisely.

[Tsuren]

wrreisen, benihana is wrong. Alt has meaning for SE. I have made an experiment. Adding or removing alt with imagined word was couse of big changing in SERPs.

There is another point. You should not use too much keywords in alt tags of all pictures.