# Image Alt Text vs Image Title in WordPress – What’s the Difference?
If you maintain a WordPress site, you have met **alt text**. You may also have noticed **image titles**, and wondered how the two differ. Are they the same thing? Do they both help accessibility? Do you need both?
This post explains what each one is, what it does for readers and for search, and where WordPress keeps them, which is less obvious than it looks. For step-by-step instructions on adding alt text, see [How to add alt text to images in WordPress](/blog/how-to-add-alt-tags-to-images-in-wordpress/).
## What is image alt text?
Alt text, short for “alternative text”, is a text description of an image, written into the HTML `alt` attribute:
```
```
### Alt text and accessibility
Alt text is how an image reaches people who cannot see it. Screen readers read the alt text out in place of the image, so a good description tells listeners what the image shows and why it is there.
When a browser does not display an image, for example because the file is broken or the reader has turned images off, it may show the alt text in its place.
### Alt text and SEO
Google uses alt text, along with computer vision and the contents of the page, to understand what an image shows. Its guidance recommends descriptive alt text, such as “Dalmatian puppy playing fetch” rather than just “puppy”.
### Writing good alt text
- **Be descriptive but concise.** “A fluffy orange cat sitting on a sunny tree branch” says more than “cat”.
- **Avoid keyword stuffing.** “cat, fluffy cat, orange cat, cat on tree” helps nobody, and Google warns that keyword stuffing may cause your site to be seen as spam.
- **Include text that appears in the image**, such as a quote or a chart label.
- **Fit the context.** On a pet-care page, “A fluffy orange cat resting on a branch after grooming” may be more useful than a generic description.
- **Use plain language.** “A fluffy orange cat” beats “a member of the Felidae family with luxuriant orange fur”.
## What is an image title?
The image title is the HTML `title` attribute on an image. It holds extra, optional information, and desktop browsers typically show it as a tooltip when you hover the mouse over the image:
```
```
Here, the title “Adoptable cats at our shelter” adds context beyond what the image shows.
### Limits of the title attribute
MDN describes the `title` attribute as highly problematic for people using touch-only devices, keyboards or screen readers, because browser and assistive-technology support is inconsistent. Never put information that a reader needs only in the title.
### When a title can help
A title can add a helpful hint for mouse users on images such as diagrams, infographics or product photos, for example “Available in three colors”. Treat it as a bonus, never as a substitute for alt text.
## Key differences
| | Alt text | Image title |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **HTML attribute** | `alt` | `title` |
| **Purpose** | Describes the image for accessibility and search | Adds optional extra context |
| **Where it appears** | Read by screen readers; may be shown if the image is not displayed | Tooltip on mouse hover, in most desktop browsers |
| **Search** | Google uses it to understand the image | Not mentioned in Google’s image guidance |
| **Accessibility** | Essential | Unreliable; not a substitute for alt text |
## Where WordPress keeps alt text and titles
This is where the two are easiest to confuse, because WordPress has a field called **Title** that does not set the `title` attribute.
- **Media Library “Alternative Text”**: the alt text stored with the image file. When you insert the image into a post, the block editor copies this alt text into the Image block.
- **Media Library “Title”**: the name of the media item in your library. It is not copied into the post as the image’s `title` attribute.
- **Image block “Alternative text”**: the alt text used for that image in that post. Set it in the block’s settings.
- **Image block “Title attribute”**: the actual HTML `title` attribute. It is under **Advanced** in the Image block’s settings.
For the steps, see [How to add alt text to images in WordPress](/blog/how-to-add-alt-tags-to-images-in-wordpress/).
## Alt text in Workover
If you write in [Workover](https://workover.io) and publish to WordPress, you can set alt text before the post goes out: select an image in the editor, click **Edit** in its toolbar, and fill in **Alt text** in the **Edit image** dialog. When you push the document, the alt text goes out with the image, and it is saved on the image’s WordPress media library entry when the image is first uploaded. The dialog also sets the image’s **File name**; it has no title field. See [Images and media](/docs/images-and-media/).
## Final thoughts
Alt text and image titles do different jobs. Alt text is essential: it makes images accessible and helps search engines understand them. The title attribute is an optional hover hint that many readers never see, and in WordPress it is set in the Image block’s **Advanced** settings, not by the Media Library **Title** field.