Qualtrics - Adding Alt-Text to a Graphic

If you use any images in your survey, they must have alt text provided for them, which describes in words what the image displays. Include only as much information as you need to convey the purpose and content of the image. If there is text in your image, you should include it in the alt text since screen readers cannot read images of text. Learn more in the WebAIM guide to alt text.

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There are two ways to add alt text. If you have already uploaded your image previously, you can add alt text through the Graphics Library. Go to your Qualtrics Library to get started. 

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Navigate to your Graphics Library section.

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Find your image, then click the gear Settings icon below the image, and select Rename Graphic or Edit Graphic from the dropdown menu. Both options edit the same property of the image.

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Add appropriate alt text for your image in the Description field. 

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Once you edit the image’s description, you will need to remove the old version of the image from surveys it has already been added to and replace it with the new version. The new alt text will not automatically appear if the image was inserted into a survey prior to changing its description in the Graphics Library.

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The second way to add alt text is to add it when you want to upload a new image in the survey builder.

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Add your new image by adding a new Graphics element to your survey, then click on the text Select a graphic to use for this question. Choose the Upload a New Graphic button.

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After you upload your image from your computer, add your alt text into the Description field, which will be auto-populated with the filename. The description you add here will be saved in the Graphics Library and will still be associated with this image if you add it into other surveys in the future.

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Please note: When adding an image to a survey, add the image using the “Graphic” question type. Do not use the Rich Content Editor within the “Descriptive Text” question type to add an image, as the alt text will not be available.