Alttekijä

Alttekijä is a Finnish term used in digital content production to describe a person responsible for creating alternative text (alt text) descriptions for images. The role supports web accessibility by providing textual descriptions that convey the content and function of images to users who rely on screen readers or who have images turned off.

Origin and usage: The term is a colloquial or informal construction in Finnish, combining alt from the English term and tekijä meaning creator. It is not a formally codified job title in most organizations, but it appears in informal discussions, accessibility guidelines, and some job postings as a way to refer to this responsibility.

Role and responsibilities: An alttekijä writes concise, descriptive text that accurately reflects what is seen or the purpose of the image, considering context, audience, and accessibility guidelines. They may follow WCAG recommendations, avoid unnecessary details, note decorative images where appropriate, and collaborate with content authors, designers, and developers to ensure consistent and useful alt text across a site or application.

Best practices: Describe visible content succinctly, convey meaning and function, avoid phrases like “image of” unless necessary, focus on important details, and ensure alt text does not overwhelm the user. For decorative images, an empty alt attribute may be appropriate to prevent noise.

Impact and context: Alt text is a key component of inclusive design, improving usability for visually impaired users and aiding search engine indexing when implemented effectively.

See also: Alt text, accessibility, WCAG, screen reader, digital content creation.