How to Add Alt Text to a Chart in Excel

Adding alt text to a chart in Excel is a straightforward accessibility step that's easy to overlook — but it matters more than most users realize. Whether you're building reports for a corporate audience, sharing workbooks across teams, or submitting documents that need to meet accessibility standards, alt text on charts ensures that screen readers and assistive technologies can describe visual content to users who can't see it.

Here's exactly how it works, what affects your experience, and why the right approach depends on your specific setup.

What Is Alt Text and Why Does It Matter for Charts?

Alt text (short for alternative text) is a written description attached to an image or visual element. When a screen reader encounters a chart, it reads the alt text aloud instead of simply announcing "image" or skipping it entirely.

In Excel, charts are treated as embedded objects — not native text content. That means without alt text, a chart is effectively invisible to screen readers. For users relying on assistive technology, this creates a significant gap in understanding the data being presented.

Beyond accessibility, well-written alt text also:

• Helps when images fail to render in certain export formats (like converted PDFs)
• Supports compliance with accessibility standards such as WCAG 2.1 and Section 508
• Adds context when workbooks are shared across different environments or devices

How to Add Alt Text to a Chart in Excel (Step by Step)

The process varies slightly depending on your version of Excel, but the core method is consistent across modern versions.

Method 1: Right-Click Context Menu (Most Common)

1. Click on the chart to select it — you'll see selection handles appear around the border.
2. Right-click anywhere on the chart border or a neutral area within the chart (not directly on a data series or label).
3. Select "Edit Alt Text…" from the context menu.
4. A panel will open on the right side of your screen with a text field.
5. Type your description in the text box provided.
6. Close the panel when finished — Excel saves the alt text automatically.

Method 2: Format Menu (Excel for Microsoft 365 and Excel 2019+)

1. Click the chart to select it.
2. Go to the Format tab in the ribbon (this appears when a chart is selected).
3. Look for the Accessibility group or use the Format Pane options.
4. Select Alt Text from the available options.
5. Enter your description in the field.

Method 3: Format Object Dialog (Older Versions)

In Excel 2016 and earlier versions, the alt text process runs through the Format Object dialog:

1. Right-click the chart.
2. Select "Format Chart Area…"
3. In the dialog box, navigate to the "Alt Text" tab.
4. Enter a Title and Description in the respective fields.
5. Click OK to apply.

What Makes Good Alt Text for a Chart? 📊

Not all alt text is equally useful. A vague description like "bar chart" doesn't communicate anything meaningful to someone relying on a screen reader.

Effective chart alt text typically includes:

• The chart type (bar, line, pie, scatter, etc.)
• The data topic being visualized
• The key takeaway or trend — what the chart is actually showing
• Any important ranges or comparisons if they're central to the point

Example of weak alt text:

"Sales chart"

Example of strong alt text:

"Bar chart showing monthly sales figures from January to June 2024, with April recording the highest revenue at approximately $240,000."

The goal is to give a non-visual user the same understanding a sighted user would get at a glance.

The "Mark as Decorative" Option

Excel also includes a "Mark as decorative" checkbox in the alt text panel. This tells screen readers to skip the element entirely — appropriate only when the chart adds no meaningful information (for example, a purely decorative graphic used for visual styling). 🚫

For data charts, do not mark as decorative. A chart presenting actual data should always have descriptive alt text.

Factors That Affect Your Experience

The process above sounds simple, but a few variables can change how it actually works in practice:

• Excel version: The alt text panel is a relatively modern addition. Older versions use a different dialog, and the options may be more limited.
• Operating system: Excel on Windows and Excel for Mac have slightly different interface layouts. The right-click menu options may be labeled differently on macOS.
• Microsoft 365 subscription tier: Some accessibility features in Microsoft 365 — like the Accessibility Checker (which flags missing alt text) — are more robust in business and enterprise plans.
• Chart type and complexity: Embedded charts, chart sheets, and pivot charts may have slightly different right-click behaviors. A chart on a dedicated chart sheet, for example, requires selecting the chart area carefully before the right-click menu surfaces the alt text option.
• Export format: If you're exporting to PDF, the alt text added in Excel may or may not carry over depending on how the export is handled. Microsoft's built-in "Export to PDF" option generally preserves alt text better than third-party converters.

Checking Alt Text With the Accessibility Checker 🔍

Excel's built-in Accessibility Checker can scan your workbook and flag any charts missing alt text. To access it:

1. Go to File → Info
2. Select Check for Issues → Check Accessibility
3. Review the results panel — any chart without alt text will appear as an error or warning

The Accessibility Checker is particularly useful when working on large workbooks with multiple embedded charts, where manually checking each one would be time-consuming.

How useful any specific method is depends on the version of Excel you're running, the platform you're on, and how the finished workbook will ultimately be used or shared. A workbook staying in-house looks different from one being submitted for compliance review or published to a broader audience — and that context shapes what level of alt text detail is actually needed.