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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-23T09:39:53+00:00

I have a client who hates the tooltips shown in browsers by the alt

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I have a client who hates the tooltips shown in browsers by the alt and title attributes of images. They requested they be removed. Obviously this is an issue for both SEO and Accessibility.

While the accessibility thing is not a huge deal to me, the SEO factor is. My initial thoughts are to remove the alt and title attributes of the images with a quick JS script. Anyone see any issues with that?

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  1. Editorial Team

    The alt and title attributes are two different things.

    The alt attribute is used for accessibility reasons and is required by the standards set by the W3C. In the United States, it’s also part of the Section 508 laws and regulations. The alt attribute behaves poorly in older versions of Internet Explorer by showing it’s contents via a tooltip. I know for a fact Internet Explorer 9 no longer has this behavior.

    The title attribute is used to force the browser in to showing a tooltip with it’s contents.

    My advice to you is use the alt attribute exclusively instead of the title attribute. Advise your client to update their browser to a more standards compliant browser if a tooltip irks them that much.

    Modern screen readers read the generated DOM. This means if you remove tags via JavaScript, you are not only invalidating your code after the fact, you are possibily hurting those who will visiting the site using assistive technology.

    I highly recommend you don’t do it.

    More information
    Target was sued and settled because of the alt attribute: http://www.sitepoint.com/target-settles-accessibility-lawsuit-for-6-million/

    Because of this landmark case, it’s safe to say that Section 508 DOES NOT only apply to federal and government websites.

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