Media

Write alt text for a dense data infographic

A scenario prompt for an infographic with too much data to describe in one alt attribute, covering the WCAG-correct pattern of a short alt plus a linked full data equivalent.

Works with Claude / GPT480 uses 4.1

The prompt

media-infographic-alt-text
We have an infographic embedded in a blog post showing quarterly sales data across
five regions (North America, EMEA, APAC, LATAM, ANZ) as five stacked bar sections,
with a callout box noting that APAC grew 34% year over year while every other
region grew under 10%.

[describe your own infographic's layout and key data points here]

A full transcription of every number in the alt attribute would be unreadable for a
screen reader user and blow way past any reasonable character limit, but skipping
the data means the image is decorative in practice for anyone who can't see it,
which it isn't.

Give me:
1. A short alt text (under 150 characters) that names the chart type and states
   only the single most important takeaway (the APAC growth outlier), not every
   data point.
2. A one-sentence note on where the full data needs to live: either a data table
   immediately following the image in the post body, or a linked CSV/source page,
   since WCAG treats "complex image" alt text as needing a full-text equivalent
   somewhere on the page, not crammed into the alt attribute itself.
3. A short caption (visible, not alt text) that can carry one more data point the
   alt text left out, since the caption is read by everyone, not just screen
   reader users.

Infographics are the case where “just write good alt text” advice breaks down: there’s no length of alt attribute that fairly represents ten data points, so the accessible pattern is short alt plus a real data equivalent elsewhere on the page, not a longer and longer alt attribute.