Hi, Insiders! I’m Shireen Salma, and I’m a Product Manager on the Office Accessibility team. Today, I’m excited to announce a major improvement to how alt text is generated in Microsoft Word and PowerPoint for Windows. Leveraging generative AI, you can write richer, more descriptive, and more context-aware image descriptions.
Richer alt text in Word and PowerPoint, powered by generative AI
Accessible content starts with great alt text. It enables people who are blind or have low vision to understand images through screen readers, and helps everyone create content that’s inclusive and engaging.
In the past, alt text was generated automatically whenever you inserted an image, using the Azure Vision model. While this provided high coverage, the descriptions could sometimes be generic or lack context. We’ve since made an intentional shift: Alt text is generated only when you choose to create it, and powered by generative AI models.
This means you get:
- Higher-quality, context-rich results
- More control over when and how alt text is added
- Intentional, accurate descriptions that better match your content and audience
By using AI to assist in generating alt text, we help content creators write better descriptions, reduce manual work, and improve accessibility at scale. We’ve also added safeguards to ensure that the descriptions are respectful, grounded in what’s visually present, and useful for those who rely on them.
| Image | Alt text by Azure Vision | Alt text by generative AI |
|
A line chart of revenue |
Line graph showing year-over-year percent revenue growth for various public restaurant companies from 2014 to 2018. Key trends include a significant dip for Darden in 2015 and steady growth for Panera, with each company represented by different colored lines and a legend for clarity. | |
|
Diagram of a house with solar panels |
Diagram illustrating passive solar design principles for a building. Highlights include photovoltaic panels on the south face, well-insulated walls and roof, operable windows for ventilation, and thermal mass concrete slab with underside insulation. |
How it works
- In Word or PowerPoint for Windows, insert an image in a document or presentation.
- Select the image, and then select Picture Format > Alt Text. NOTE: You can also select Review > Check Accessibility > Missing Alt Text.
- Select Generate alt text for me, and notice that the alt text is rich, contextual, and meaningful.
Availability
This update is available to Word and PowerPoint for Windows users with a Microsoft 365 subscription and running Version 2510 (Build 19328.20000) or later.
For users with perpetual license versions of Word and PowerPoint, older versions that previously generated alt text automatically will no longer do so by default. You can still enable this feature manually by selecting File > Options > Accessibility > Automatically generate alt text. Future perpetual releases will include the new gen AI-powered experience, delivering the same rich, on-demand descriptions available to Microsoft 365 users. This ensures a consistent, high-quality experience across versions, while giving users full control over when and how alt text is added.
Feedback
We’d love to hear your thoughts on how this update is working! Open Accessibility Assistant, then select Give Feedback to provide feedback. Alternatively, you can select Give feedback on this alt text in the Alt Text pane for specific feedback on alt text.
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