Focus Order and Alt Text

I'm hoping someone can help me understand the relationship between the focus order and the alt text.  I know that alt text is the text read aloud by a screen reader and I know that the focus order determines the order in which the text is read.

According to the article Storyline 360: Customizing the Focus Order of Slide Objects (https://community.articulate.com/articles/storyline-360-customizing-the-focus-order-of-slide-objects?_ga=2.47395175.151716484.1637230621-1231450310.1637230621#alt-text), "If an object doesn't have alternate text, screen readers will read the name of that object as it appears in the timeline."  

The alt text for text boxes defaults to the contents of the text box, but this does not automatically show up in the focus order window.  I have to right click on the text box, select Accessibility, place my cursor in the box with the default text, then close the Alternate Text window in order for the alt text of a text box to appear in the focus order window.  Does this mean that the screen reader will not read the text boxes if the alt text field in the focus order is empty?