🧑‍💻 Alt Text vs ARIA Labels — What Developers Often Miss

Most developers know the basics of Alt Text for images. But when building modern apps with complex UI, alt text alone is not enough . That’s where ARIA attributes come in. Let’s go deeper. 1️⃣ Alt Text – For Image Meaning Alt text ( alt ) is specifically designed for images . It tells screen readers what the image represents. <img src= "dashboard-chart.png" alt= "Line chart showing user growth from January to June" > When to use it ✔ Product images ✔ Blog images ✔ Icons that convey meaning ✔ Charts or graphs If the image is purely decorative , use an empty alt . <img src= "divider.png" alt= "" > This tells screen readers to ignore it . 2️⃣ The Problem Developers Face In real projects we often have: Icon buttons SVG icons Custom components div buttons Complex UI Example: <button> <svg> ... </svg> </button> A screen reader will just say: "button" No context. 3️⃣ aria-label – Adding Meaning to UI aria-label provides accessible text for elements that don't have visible text . <button aria-