When I first starting documenting a list of tips and strategies for how to write alt text for digital comics in November 2018, I never expected that my post would reach many of my favorite artists and comic creators, or that fans would start volunteering to create alt text for comics or write extended image descriptions for their favorite comics (with credit to the original authors, of course). It’s been amazing to have a better option for reading digital comics with low vision that go beyond zooming in on an image, leaning close to a screen, or trying to extract text from an image to read what the characters are saying, and I’m profoundly grateful for all of the creators and fans who have stepped in to make comics accessible for people with visual impairments like me. Updated in 2025, here is a guide for how to write alt text for digital comics, written by someone with low vision.
Terms and definitions for accessible digital comics
When it comes to creating accessible comics or modifying comics so they are accessible, I find it helpful to think of accessibility in terms of low-visual access (making things easier to see) and non-visual access (ensuring things can be accessed without having to look at them). I also use the phrase visual impairment as an umbrella term inclusive of blind, low vision, and neurological visual impairment (also known as cortical visual impairment or CVI). It’s important to remember that visual impairment is a spectrum, not a binary, and that there are many tools and strategies that individuals may use when accessing comics or other digital content— though writing alt text and image descriptions is a great strategy for improving both visual accessibility and non-visual accessibility.
Before I get into the guidelines for how to write alt text for digital comics, here are some helpful terms and definitions to know:
Alt text (alternative text)
Alt text refers to a short, text-based description of an image that is read by screen readers or displayed on a braille display in lieu of an image. If an image fails to load on a website, alt text will display in its place for all users. Alt text is generally not visible to people who do not use assistive technologies, with the exception of some social media platforms like BlueSky and X. Alt text can be embedded in images posted online, on social media, or in documents.
Image description
Image descriptions are text-based descriptions of an image that are displayed as part of captions or are “exposed” so that anyone can read them or benefit from them. They may also be read out loud with a screen reader or displayed on a braille display. Image descriptions are often longer and more detailed than alt text, and also provide options for formatting text with lists, additional spacing, and more. Image descriptions can also be viewed in large print.
Text-to-speech
Text-to-speech and speech synthesis tools read text out loud or convert text content to braille, and enable people with visual impairments to access visual interfaces with gestures, keyboard shortcuts, or without having to look at the screen. Screen readers will recognize text, labeled buttons, emoji, keyboard input, menus, and images that have alt text included, and will display the alt text in lieu of the image. Images that do not have alt text are essentially invisible, and the user has no way of knowing what is in an image unless there is alt text included.
Some users will activate text-to-speech or screen readers as needed for short reading tasks and use them in addition to accessing information visually, though many users completely rely on a screen reader and/or connected braille display to access information.
Transcript
In this context, a transcript provides a description of visual content in a comic as well as any text content, similar to a script or outline. This is the optimal format for writing image descriptions for comics, as it is ideal for non-visual access and can be especially useful for people with cerebral visual impairment/cortical visual impairment (CVI) who may find it difficult or impossible to access images.
Related links
- How To Write Alt Text and Image Descriptions for the Visually Impaired
- How To Write Alt Text For Amateur Art
- A to Z of Assistive Technology for Reading Digital Text
- Emoji Accessibility and Low Vision
- Purposes of Media Descriptions for Visual Impairment
- How To Add Alt Text On Social Media
- Meet The Cast: Supporting Literacy For Students With CVI
Tips for posting accessible digital comics
When it comes to including alt text in comics or making comics accessible for visual impairment, there are a few different strategies that creators can use to make their content easier to read and/or access with assistive technology. Here are my recommendations:
Have one panel in each image
I was so excited when Instagram and other social media platforms started supporting options for posting multiple images in one post, because it is easier for me to zoom in and to get more in-depth alt text for each panel, instead of trying to describe the whole comic or page in one screenshot. Most digital comic creators I know will add a version of the comic at the end of the post that features all of the panels stitched together so that the entire comic can be shared in a screenshot, which can also be helpful for people who prefer smaller text sizes.
Create a pinned post that introduces characters
Instead of describing what each character looks like in individual comics, create a pinned post or resource that shares what a character looks like, how they act, and other information that the reader would want to know before reading the comic— don’t put this information only in Instagram stories or similar as these are not accessible for screen readers. If a character looks different than they usually do in a given comic, this can be acknowledged as part of the alt text/image description.
Here is an example of a visual description for a character:
”Veronica is a white 22-year-old college student with shoulder-length brown hair and large purple glasses with tinted lenses. The shortest of all of the characters, she often wears floral dresses and walks with a blindness cane (white cane) in most indoor and outdoor settings. Her cane is mostly white with a purple segment on the bottom.”
For animated frames, include an additional image description
Some platforms don’t support adding alt text for gifs or videos yet, so I recommend placing an image description in the caption to describe the panel instead. Alternatively, consider adding narration or sound effects that can help audiences understand what is happening in an image!
Here is an example of a description of a moving panel:
Veronica’s friend tries to hand her the phone, but since Veronica isn’t paying attention, the phone falls to the floor.
Share transcripts on a website or external source
Another strategy for creating or modifying accessible comics is to post transcripts, alt text, and image descriptions on a website or Wiki page. The Explain XKCD Wiki is a fantastic example of this, as they post a transcript of comics that anyone can read, along with alt text. I’ve also enjoyed creators that will post their comics as a blog post, and include a formatted transcript underneath the image that can be navigated with a screen reader or enlarged with browser zoom/magnification.
Of course, if someone is re-posting a comic they didn’t create, they should always make sure to give credit and link back to the original comic!
Related links
- Tips For Creating Art For Visually Impaired Friends
- High Contrast and Low Vision
- How To Create High Resolution Images For Low Vision
- Options For Writing Extended Image Descriptions On Social Media
- How To Write Alt Text For Gifs
- How To Make Accessible ASCII Art and Emoji Memes
- How To Describe Dance Choreography Videos For Visually Impaired
How to write alt text for digital comics
When it comes to writing alt text, one helpful strategy is to imagine someone is on a phone call describing an image to a friend, and what details they would want their friend to know about in order to understand the image or following along in conversation. Others may find it more helpful to imagine they are describing an item on a podcast or radio show where the listener can’t ask clarifying questions. Here are some other ideas and examples that can help with writing alt text for comics.
Should I include the comic title in alt text?
If a comic is posted online or on a social media account, the title of the comic series (e.g. Peanuts) does not need to be included in the alt text. The same goes for the date or comic number, unless this information is already written somewhere else in the comic— the alt text should be used to describe what is happening in the comic, not necessarily to share metadata. The purpose of alt text for comics is to describe the comic to the reader so they can enjoy it, not necessarily to inform them about when it was posted; I would be frustrated to read alt text that just told me the date or title of a comic and didn’t tell me what was actually in it.
For accounts that post multiple comics from different series, I recommend including the comic title in the caption or as an image title attribute (for websites).
Introduce the character(s) and share what they are doing
Before sharing any dialogue, it helps to set the scene by mentioning which character(s) are visible, along with where they are and any objects they are interacting with. It can also help to know how they are posed or what they are doing.
If I was creating a comic about what I am doing right now, I would write:
Veronica sits at her computer with a focused expression while typing a blog post. She moves her hand away from the keyboard to grasp her phone, and notices it is missing.
It doesn’t really matter that my lamp is on or that I am sitting in a black chair, since these aren’t really important to understanding what I am doing and aren’t important details to understanding the story.
Once the setting is established, write dialogue verbatim
Now that we know who is talking or who is visible, it’s time to hear what they have to say! It is helpful to know if the speech bubble indicates that they are talking out loud or if they are thinking about something, but the description of the bubble itself doesn’t matter. Building on the example from before:
Veronica sits at her computer with a focused expression while typing a blog post. She moves her hand away from the keyboard to grasp her phone, and notices it is missing. She then asks “where did my phone go?”
If the character is silent, describe what they are doing
If there are background characters that are important to the story or the plot, it’s helpful to share what they are doing and where they are in relation to the “main” characters. I find it helpful to describe backgrounds and locations from left to right and top to bottom, since this is how someone would likely read a comic in English. Let’s add some more details to my example:
Veronica sits at her computer with a focused expression while typing a blog post. She moves her hand away from the keyboard to grasp her phone, and notices it is missing. She then asks “where did my phone go?” Veronica does not notice her friend standing behind her, smiling as they take a bunch of selfies with her phone while sticking their tongue out.
Establish a baseline, and let readers know when things change
I didn’t describe what Veronica looks like in the comic, because she would be a main character or frequently recurring character in this comic. Her appearance would be pretty consistent between comics and between panels, so describing what she looks like in every panel isn’t important.
However, if Veronica’s appearance was to change drastically for a comic, this is something that would need to be noted in the alt text and/or image description. For example, if Veronica wasn’t wearing her glasses, this would be something the reader would not expect and would need to know in order to follow the storyline, especially since this detail would likely be significant to the plot/storyline. Here is how that might play out in a comic:
Veronica is sitting in bed wearing pajamas and goes to reach for her glasses on the table, but they are not in their usual spot. She gets out of bed without her glasses, and asks an unseen character “do you know where my glasses went?” Veronica turns to face the table again and moves her hands across the surface, touching her gray cat. The glasses are underneath the cat’s paws, and the cat has a calm expression while Veronica continues to move her hands across the bed, floor, and other surfaces, asking “I wonder where they could be…” The cat continues to watch Veronica search for her glasses.
Related links
- How To Create Helpful Visual Descriptions For Visually Impaired Audiences
- How To Write Alt Text and Image Descriptions for the Visually Impaired
- How To Write Alt Text For Amateur Art
- Lemon On A Pear: Accessible Memes For Low Vision
- How To Write Alt Text And Image Descriptions For Photojournalism Images
- How To Write Alt Text For Casual Outfits
- How To Write Video Descriptions For TikTok
- How To Write Video Descriptions For Animal Videos
Optimizing alt text and image descriptions for readability
Alt text offers fewer options for formatting text for readability, and essentially just renders text as one big block/wall of text. This is why some platforms have character limits for how long alt text can be, since the screen reader software will read the entirety of the alt text out loud or display it in braille without breaks. This is why I recommend posting comics as individual panels when possible, but also illustrates why it is super important to proofread alt text before posting.
While the alt text examples I posted above are great, they are even better when formatted as a transcript or extended image description/caption so that someone can access it in a more logical reading order. For example, this transcript could be posted underneath an image of the comic, with the numbers corresponding to the panels:
- Veronica is sitting in bed wearing pajamas and goes to reach for her glasses on the table, but they are not in their usual spot.
- She gets out of bed without her glasses, and asks an unseen character “do you know where my glasses went?”
- Veronica turns to face the table again and moves her hands across the surface, touching her gray cat.
- The glasses are underneath the cat’s paws, and the cat has a calm expression while Veronica continues to move her hands across the bed, floor, and other surfaces, asking “I wonder where they could be…” The cat continues to watch Veronica search for her glasses.
The structured list/numbered list is also easier for screen readers and braille displays to navigate, and make it easier to go back and forth to re-read panels.
Automatic alt text and digital comics— not a great mix
Automatic alt text tools can be helpful for recognizing text in an image, but often lack essential details about characters, settings, and other contextual information that can help readers understand what is happening in a comic or how it connects to the story. I have also noticed several errors with handwritten text or had automatic alt text make errors with identifying objects— for example, an automatic alt text tool recognized a picture of a llama I drew for a friend as a lamp. Comics are more than just text— please take the extra few minutes to describe the wonderful art and visuals!
Related links
- A to Z of Assistive Technology for Reading Digital Text
- How To Add Alt Text On Social Media
- How To Make Your Instagram Feed Accessible For Visual Impairment
- How To Access Images Without Alt Text
- How To Make Tumblr Themes Accessible For Low Vision
- How To Improve Your Blog Theme For Visually Impaired Users
More resources for accessible comics and alt text for comics
- Putting together an accessible zine? Read Zine Accessibility and Low Vision
- Another cool way of sharing accessible comics is to do full cast recordings for audio comics, or to use audio narrated images. I share more about audio narrated images in an educational context in Creating Audio Narrated Images For Low Vision
- Interested in learning even more about accessible comics? Here is a list of fantastic resources from the Accessible Comics for the Blind Project
- Want more alt text content? Read Alt Text Archives | Veronica With Four Eyes (veroniiiica.com)
Published November 29, 2018. Updated March 2025