How To Add Alt Text To A Chart In Excel

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How to in Excel
Why Know How
Common Use Cases
Sourcetable vs Excel
Frequently Asked Questions

Introduction

Adding alternative text (alt text) to charts in Excel is essential for ensuring that your data is accessible to all users, including those with visual impairments. Alt text provides a textual alternative to visual information, which can be read by screen readers, allowing the content to be accessible to a wider audience.

This practical guide will walk you through the step-by-step process of adding alt text to your Excel charts. By following these instructions, you'll enhance the accessibility of your charts and ensure that your data is comprehensible even without visual cues.

While Excel requires manual configuration for alt text, Sourcetable's AI chatbot can automatically handle tasks like this, letting you create and modify charts through simple conversation. Skip the tedious Excel process and try Sourcetable to streamline your spreadsheet workflows with AI.

Adding Alt Text to Excel Charts

Steps to Add Alt Text

To make charts in Excel accessible, add alt text that describes the chart and its context. In Excel 365, select the chart and access the format menu, then choose 'Alt Text'. For SmartArt graphics or charts, click the border to select the entire object and add alt text that assists users with visual disabilities.

Alt Text via Format Selection

Improve chart accessibility further through formatting. Navigate to 'Format' > 'Current Selection' > 'Format Selection' in Excel to enhance legibility, using simple, sans serif fonts at 12 points or larger. Ensure the title is descriptive, axis formatting is legible, and chart labels are clear and useful.

Marking Decorative Elements

Excel allows marking visuals as decorative. If the object is purely for visual interest and not pertinent to understanding the chart, mark it as decorative. This bypasses the need for alt text on non-informative elements, focusing user attention on essential data.

Accessibility Considerations

Choose your words carefully when adding alt text to ensure clarity for individuals with low vision. Provide concise, descriptive titles and label chart elements clearly to facilitate better chart accessibility in Excel.

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Use Cases for Excel Chart Alt Text

Making Charts Accessible for Visually Impaired Users	Alt text enables screen readers to convey chart information to visually impaired users. This allows them to understand data visualizations and participate fully in data analysis tasks.
Enhancing Search Engine Optimization	When Excel charts are exported for web content, alt text provides search engines with descriptive information about the visual content. This improves content discoverability and helps search engines understand the context of your data visualizations.
Meeting Accessibility Compliance Requirements	Organizations must ensure their documents meet accessibility standards. Adding alt text to Excel charts helps fulfill these requirements and avoids potential compliance issues in corporate or government reporting.
Supporting Text-Based Assistive Technologies	Users who rely on text-based assistive technologies can better understand chart data through well-crafted alt text descriptions. This ensures that important data insights are available to all users regardless of how they access the information.
Creating Inclusive Educational Materials	Educational institutions can create more inclusive learning materials by adding alt text to Excel charts. This ensures that students with disabilities have equal access to educational content and can fully participate in data-driven learning activities.

Excel vs Sourcetable: Key Differences

Excel is a traditional spreadsheet tool that requires manual data manipulation through functions and features. Sourcetable is an AI-powered spreadsheet that revolutionizes data analysis by letting you chat with an AI to create, analyze, and visualize data. Simply upload your files or connect your database, then tell Sourcetable's AI what you want to analyze. Try Sourcetable at app.sourcetable.com to answer any spreadsheet question instantly.

AI-Driven Analysis

While Excel requires users to know specific functions and formulas, Sourcetable's AI chatbot handles all calculations and analysis through natural conversation. Simply describe what you want to analyze, and the AI generates the results.

Data Processing

Excel has file size limitations and requires manual data manipulation. Sourcetable can handle files of any size and connects directly to databases, with its AI automatically processing and analyzing data based on your requests.

Visualization Creation

Instead of manually creating charts in Excel, Sourcetable's AI can instantly turn your data into stunning visualizations based on your conversational input.

Learning Curve

Excel requires users to learn complex functions and features. Sourcetable eliminates this learning curve by allowing users to interact with data through natural language conversations with its AI.

How do I add alt text to a chart in Excel?

There are two ways to add alt text to a chart in Excel: 1) Right-click the chart and select Edit Alt Text, or 2) Select the chart and then select Format > Alt Text

What should I include in the alt text for an Excel chart?

Alt text for Excel charts should include a title and description. The description should be 1-2 sentences that convey the important ideas in the chart and its context

What's the correct way to select a chart when adding alt text?

Click the chart border instead of clicking an individual shape or piece of the chart

Effortlessly Add Alt Text to Charts with Sourcetable

While adding alt text to charts in Excel requires manual effort and technical knowledge, Sourcetable's AI chatbot simplifies this process. As an AI-powered spreadsheet, Sourcetable eliminates the need for complex functions and tedious manual work. Simply tell the AI what you want to do, and it handles everything from creating spreadsheets to generating visualizations.

Sourcetable's AI capabilities allow you to upload files of any size or connect your database directly. Whether you need to analyze data, create charts, or add accessibility features, the AI chatbot guides you through the process with natural conversation.

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How To Add Alt Text To A Chart In Excel

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Introduction