using alt-tags on text

Adria Pazour:

I am not sure I like the way it looks; seems busy. I am wondering if it makes a difference to use alt-tags like this? I understand why it is used for images. Does it help with SEO?

Thanks for responding!

http://http://www.nrcprograms.org/site/PageServer?pagename=index.

Aha! If you're referring to the navigation menu bar, then I see what you're saying: when you hover the mouse over each menu, the name of the menu appears again over your mouse pointer, as a tooltip. Those are alt tags on images!

Though they look like text, the menus are actually small images of text; the web developer did that so that the menus could use non-Web fonts. But if a user isn't able to view images, because of a visual impairment, an images-off browser, or a search engine spider that can understand only text, then it would be impossible to tell what the text of the menu is without alt tags. That's why the alt tags are appearing under your cursor when you hover.

If you're using images to display text, so that you can use special effects on the text, superimpose the text over an image, or use a non-Web font, it's important to put the same text in the alt attribute of the image. SEO is one reason, but the big reason is so your site is accessible to the disabled.

Adria Pazour:

Thank you so much! It's so helpful to know that it is called a "navigation menu bar."

I am not sure if that applies to ours http://stjo.org/site/PageServer?pagename=stjo_homepage, however. I looked in pagebuilder and did not see where I could place any alt-tags. I am finding my way into Convio a bit, but have much to learn.

No problem, Tessa, take your time learning.

Try viewing the source code of your home page, going to Edit > Find, and searching for "Our Programs". Notice what you're looking at: your navigation menu, unlike the NRC menu you were looking at, consists of actual text, not images. So it's already as accessible and SEO-friendly as it needs to be!