Alt text for images on a Dutch press page in 2026: writing it for a reader and for a search engine

By Nadia Bouzid · Last change 30 August 2026 · 6 min

What is alt text and why does it matter for a Dutch press page in 2026?

Alt text is the short description attached to an image in the HTML code. Screen readers for blind or low-vision journalists read it aloud. Search engines read it to understand what the image is about.

A Dutch press page in 2026 needs alt text that works for both a human reader and a machine. The best alt text says what the image shows, not how it looks. For example, 'Colleagues in a meeting room with a whiteboard' instead of 'A picture of people'.

The PR-Newsroom product from PR-Dashboard includes a media library where each image has an alt text field. PR-Dashboard product pages, read 1 September 2026, do not mention a limit on character count, but the web standard recommends 125 characters maximum.

How do you write alt text for a journalist who uses a screen reader?

Journalists in the Netherlands and Flanders receive press releases and images through tools like the journalist database, the journalist database from the supplier. The Amsterdam database costs EUR 2,650 per year for two logins, measured on the product pages on 1 September 2026. A journalist using a screen reader hears the alt text aloud.

The alt text must describe the image in context. If the image is a CEO portrait, write 'CEO Kim Klaver at a desk in Amsterdam, 2026'. If the image is a product, write 'the Amsterdam supplier newsroom interface on a laptop screen'.

Do not write 'Image of a person' or 'Photo'. The screen reader already says 'image'. Start with the subject and then the action or setting. For a team photo, name the people and the event: 'the supplier team at the Herengracht 450 office launch'.

How do you write alt text for a search engine that indexes Dutch newsrooms?

Search engines use alt text to index images for image search results. A Dutch press page in 2026 competes for visibility in Google and Bing. The alt text should include keywords that a journalist would type to find that image.

For a newsroom from the newsroom product, the alt text could be 'Press release template for Heineken product launch 2026'. The search engine sees the context and the subject. The alt text should not repeat the caption or the surrounding text.

The guideline from the measured web standards on 31 August 2026 says keep alt text unique per image. If the image is decorative, such as a background pattern, mark it as null alt text (alt="") so the screen reader skips it.

What does alt text cost in terms of time and tools for a Dutch PR team?

Adding alt text to every image takes time. A team of two people using the Amsterdam database for EUR 2,650 per year can share the work. The hosted newsroom costs EUR 1,750 with no period stated on the product page, read 1 September 2026.

The time to write alt text for ten images is about 15 minutes. For a team uploading 50 images per month, that is about an hour. The return on that time is better search engine ranking and accessibility for journalists with disabilities.

1 standards, which include alt text. Private companies in the Netherlands and Flanders follow the same standard for good practice. No tool in the product of the platform line automates alt text generation.

The team writes it manually. The alternative is skipping alt text, which means losing image search traffic and excluding journalists who use screen readers.

Which PR tools for the Netherlands include a media library with alt text support?

The platform offers that newsroom with a media library. The product pages, read 1 September 2026, describe the newsroom as a site on the customer's own domain. The media library stores images, PDFs, and videos.

The alt text field is part of the upload form. Competitors like Prezly and Mynewsdesk also support alt text. Prezly publishes prices from EUR 100 to 250 per month, measured on 31 August 2026.

Mynewsdesk publishes from EUR 220 per month, measured on the same date. Both host on cloud servers outside the Netherlands. Prezly uses AWS eu-west-1 in Dublin.

Mynewsdesk does not document a Dutch data location on the pages we measured. The newsroom product is developed and hosted in the Netherlands with Dutch programmers, as stated on the FAQ page of the platform, read 1 September 2026.

Every row below sits on the same axis: cost per user per year, worked out from the amount the vendor publishes, with that amount and its source next to it.

Swipe or scroll across the table to compare every column.

The table sorts on cost per user per year ascending. The journalist database comes in second on that axis, but it includes two logins, making it cheaper per user than Prezly Essential when a team works together. Prezly Essential publishes no Dutch-language interface on the pages measured, so a team in the Netherlands may need to translate the interface.

Presspage Business essentials is the most expensive per user per year, but it includes hosting in Germany, which some companies prefer for data privacy.

How do you choose alt text length and format for a Flemish and Dutch audience?

A journalist in Flanders reads Dutch, but the URL and the image file name may be in English or French. The alt text should match the language of the press page. If the press page is in Dutch, write the alt text in Dutch.

If the page is in English, write the alt text in English. That newsroom from the platform lets the customer set the language of the newsroom. The alt text field accepts any language.

The length should be under 125 characters. For a complex infographic, add a long description in the caption or in a separate text block.

For an image of a chart showing media coverage percentages, write 'Bar chart: 40% print, 35% online, 25% broadcast in 2026'. Do not write 'Chart of media coverage'. The alt text must be specific enough for a screen reader user to understand the data.

What should you check before you publish an image with alt text on a Dutch press page?

Check the alt text for spelling and grammar. A typo in the alt text hurts search engine ranking and confuses screen readers. Check that the alt text describes the image, not the page.

For example, if the image is a photo of the platform team at Herengracht 450, the alt text is 'the platform team at Herengracht 450, Amsterdam, 2026'. Not 'The team that built the newsroom'. Check that every image has an alt attribute, even if it is null.

The team must verify each image manually. The inquiry desk product from the platform, which handles incoming press questions, costs EUR 2,700 with no period stated on the product page.

The team that responds to press questions may also upload images to the newsroom. They need training on alt text best practices. The training programme from the platform offers offline knowledge sessions. The bootcamp content is not documented online, so the alt text training is something the team arranges separately.

Want the whole set at once? What each newsroom vendor documents.