Alt Text Writer & Generator
A free alt text writer that drafts SEO- and accessibility-friendly alt text from a filename and a short description — no image upload needed.
Generate alt text with AI
Paste a public image URL and, optionally, where it's used. Draftbase's server fetches the image and a vision model writes the alt text — the image isn't stored, just processed for this one request.
How it works
This is a text heuristic, not computer vision: it cleans up the filename (splitting team-photo-office.jpg into words) and combines it with what you describe and where the image is used, then flags any suggestion over the ~125-character screen-reader guideline. Nothing is uploaded — see how the same field is stored for real in a media library.
Why alt text matters for SEO
Alt text is the alt attribute on an <img> tag — the text a screen reader announces instead of the image and the text search engines use to understand what an image shows for image search. It doesn’t move a page’s ranking directly, but a missing alt attribute is a WCAG accessibility failure and a missed image-search listing, so it’s worth getting right on every image, not just the ones that feel important.
Alt text writer vs. AI image alt text generator
An AI image alt text generator uploads the file and runs it through a vision model to automatically generate image descriptions. Most ship as a web app or a Chrome extension that captions images as you browse a web page. That works well for bulk visual content, but the model only sees pixels. It doesn’t know why the image sits on the page, so it describes a chart as “a blue and orange graph” instead of the trend the chart proves.
This writer takes the opposite trade: you supply the context, it drafts the wording. Descriptive alt text beats a literal caption for readers who are blind or visually impaired, because it tells them what the image means in context, not just what’s in the frame. Keeping content accessible that way takes a human in the loop, whichever tool drafts the first version.
How to add alt text in WordPress
In the Media Library, click any image, and the Alt Text field sits directly under the file details — save it there and it’s applied wherever that image is reused. To change alt text on an image already placed in a post, select the image block, open the block settings panel, and edit Alt Text under the block’s Advanced or Settings section — editing the Media Library entry alone doesn’t update images already inserted into content.
Alt text on Instagram and Facebook
Both platforms support custom alt text on photo posts, separate from the caption: on Instagram, it’s under Advanced Settings when composing a post; on Facebook, it’s the “Edit Alt Text” option after uploading an image. The same short, specific-description rule applies — describe what’s actually in the photo, not the caption text repeated verbatim. Alt text and a URL slug are the same kind of small per-field value most CMS platforms validate on save, not just this one.
Store alt text once, reuse it everywhere
Draftbase's media library stores alt text per asset, so every entry that references the same image reuses one description instead of retyping it per page.
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Frequently asked questions
What makes good alt text?
A short, specific description of what the image shows and why it’s there — not a keyword list, not "image of...", and under roughly 125 characters so screen readers don’t truncate it awkwardly.
Does this tool actually look at my image?
No — it assembles suggestions from the filename and the description you type, it doesn’t analyze pixels. Use it to draft faster, then adjust the wording to match what the image actually shows.
Who is alt text for?
Anyone using a screen reader, including blind and visually impaired visitors, plus search engines reading image content. Decorative images that add no information should get an empty alt attribute (alt="") so screen readers skip them.
Does alt text affect SEO?
Indirectly. Search engines use alt text to understand image content for image search, and it’s required for accessibility compliance (WCAG), but it won’t move a page’s ranking on its own.
More free tools on the tools page, or read the media & cdn guide on /media-cdn.