Forum Discussion
Accessibility: Shapes with text vs text boxes
Add Alt Text to the Shape
Even though the shape contains text, it still needs proper Alt Text so screen readers can interpret it.
- Do not mark the shape as decorative.
- Provide a concise, meaningful description that conveys the purpose of the shape and the text inside it
Review the Reading Order
Check the Reading Order panel to confirm that:
- The shape appears in the correct sequence.
- The order flows logically when read aloud by a screen reader.
- Nothing is skipped or read out of context.
Hi KevinNolty , just to clarify, you do not need to specifically define alt text. The text that you type into a shape is the alt text. The only time you would specifically need to add alt text is if the shape does not contain text, and the shape is non decorative, or you want the text that is picked up by assistive tech to be different to the text you have typed into a shape.
Hi SamHill , can you please clarify for me? I have a project with shapes that include text. When I go to the focus order, is it OK that there is nothing in the alt text section? My worry is the screen reader is not going to read the text in the shape. Thanks in advance!
Yes that is fine AnjiWittman, you are only likely to see text in the focus order where there is ALT on graphical elements, or the ALT text deviates from the text within a shape/text box. As long as when you check the accessibility settings on your shape, and the checkbox is ticked to make visible to accessibility tools and the Alternative text is populated with text.
The only way you can really confirm everything is working as expected is to test using a screen reader. There are free ones available (Windows Narrator comes installed with Windows) and NVDA.
