[intro]In this Guide, you’ll learn about how Alt Text works on your EKM online shop if you’re using the Aerial Theme. [/intro]

[caution]This Guide is intended for use with the Aerial Theme. If you are using a Legacy Theme or your EKM online shop is in Custom Mode, click here for the correct Guide.[/caution]

What is Alt Text?

Alt Text is the name given to text that is added to Design Images to help define their content to search engines and internet users who are visually impaired. This can help you with SEO and also, if an image cannot be loaded for whatever reason, the Alt Text will be displayed instead.

[remember] You don’t need to add Alt Text to Product or Category Images as the platform already does this for you, using words from the Product or Category Name. Design Images are any other images on your EKM online shop that aren’t Product or Category Images. [/remember]

Alt Text on the Aerial Theme

On Legacy Themes or Themes in Custom Mode, there’s an Image Description field within the Edit Element window for you to add Alt Text to:

This field doesn’t exist on Aerial though, as Alt Tags on this Theme work differently. Within the different sections on the Aerial Theme, such as 3 Promos, for example, these images have fields for text that can be overlaid onto them:

On the Aerial Theme, if there’s a Design Image within a section that can have text overlaid onto it, this text is automatically listed as the Alt Text against that specific image. 

[remember]Not all Design Images require Alt Text! Images that are classed as ‘decorative’ and do not ‘add information to the content of the page’ do not require Alt Text. You can read more about Decorative Images on the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative website by clicking here. [/remember]

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[contact] If you need our help with your EKM online shop, contact your Ecommerce Expert or the Customer Support Team, who will be able to point you in the right direction. We're open from 8am-6pm weekdays and 9am-5.30pm weekends. If you'd like to suggest a feature or an upgrade on any of the EKM platforms, please let us know on the EKM Suggestions Board. If you have a non-account specific question to ask the EKM Team, join us in EKM Community. If you need some inspiration for your EKM online shop, listen to our podcast on iTunes and Spotify.[/contact]