alt tag

[newreality]

Is the alt tag still being used by some of the engines or any main directory?

[Marcia]

Yes, it is being used and the alt attribute should be used by web page designers and authors.

It should be put in with the end user in mind, accurately describing the topical relevancy of the image it's being put in for. Keywords and/or keyword phrases are fine. Whatever is legitimately for the benefit of users who may not be using images for browsing (like the visuallyh impaired) can be expected to pass scrutiny if hand examined, which imho is the ultimate test of viability.

That doesn't mean putting whole paragraphs of text into alt text when a page is all images is OK.

[David Wallace]

An alt attribute that is combined with an image that is hyperlinked to another page is read and given credit as describing the page it is linked to. Other than that, alt attributes are certainly read but if not associated with hyperlinked images, are not given much if any weight.

Alt attributes should describe the image if the image is not linked and if the image is linked, they should describe the page they are linking to. That being said, it is possible to make sure keywords are included in alt attributes behind linked images but you certainly do not want to "abuse" them by stuffing a bunch of keywords in them.