AI-generated alt text for research figures and images
Springer Nature is committed to making our content, platforms, and services as accessible as possible for the global research community. We want to ensure that researchers, students, and readers with a wide range of access needs can understand and use your research.
As part of this commitment, we provide AI-generated alternative text (alt text) for figures and images. This will be included in your proofs for review.
Alt text is a description that allows readers who cannot see an image to understand the information it provides. It makes your work accessible to a wider audience, including readers with vision loss or dyslexia and people who use read-aloud tools, and helps search engines understand and index images so that your research can be more easily found.
How alt text is added to your images
After your manuscript is accepted, AI-generated alt text is suggested for your images and figures.
You need to review this, because as the author, you are best able to confirm whether the description accurately reflects the image and its role in the surrounding content.
What you need to do:
- Review the suggested alt text
- Make any changes if the alt text is inaccurate
- Confirm and submit your changes
To find out how to assess the quality of the suggested alt text, read the guide on ‘How to write good alt text’.
Frequently asked questions
Why is AI generating alt text?
While some authors are familiar with the purpose of alt text and how to write it, not all have encountered it before. The AI generated text from the tool is intended to offer a starting point for authors by making concrete suggestions of what and how to describe your figures and images.
Will all my images receive AI-generated alt text?
AI-generated alt text is generated for figures and images in accepted manuscripts. Some images may not receive alt text if they don't meet Open AI sensitive image policy. These images may require manual descriptions.
Springer Nature Policy
Accessibility Requirements for images, figures and supplementary materials.