If you’re coming to this post for a quick answer, then my answer is yes, you should mention skin color in your alternative (alt) text.
I’ve seen people debate this online, but for me the answer is clear. The concern most people have with including it is that it can get really tricky to describe someone’s skin color or race. The problem is that in our society, a lack of skin color or race identifier means that the person is by default, a white caucasian person.
Representation does matter, even to those who may be visually impaired. Keep in mind that alternative text is used for many things. For example, if an image doesn’t load, the alternative text will display.
To avoid some of the tricky pitfalls around describing someone’s skin color or race, use this guideline:
If you are not 100% sure of the race/ethnicity of the person in the photo, do not make assumptions. Instead, use neutral descriptors of color.
Here are some examples to help illustrate this guideline with this photo of me:
Do not use: Headshot of Dhruti Bhagat-Conway from the shoulders up, smiling, in a sweater and glasses, with shoulder-length black wavy hair
Why? This does not include any descriptors of my identity as a person of color
Do not use: Headshot of Dhruti Bhagat-Conway, a person of middle eastern descent, from the shoulders up, smiling, in a sweater and glasses, with shoulder-length black wavy hair
Why? This is an assumption about my race/ethnicity, and it is incorrect
Do not use: Headshot of Dhruti Bhagat-Conway, a person with cashew-colored skin, from the shoulders up, smiling, in a sweater and glasses, with shoulder-length black wavy hair
Why? Using food as a descriptor for people’s skin color can make people uncomfortable. Given histories of oppression for people of color, describing them as something you might eat can make people feel like you view them as less than human.
Do not use: Headshot of Dhruti Bhagat-Conway, a person with sand-colored skin, from the shoulders up, smiling, in a sweater and glasses, with shoulder-length black wavy hair
Why? Using non-food objects to describe a person’s skin can still make them feel uncomfortable. Being described in comparison to an object other people know can make me feel like my skin color is so foreign to them, that they can only describe me by using another object. But, that’s not true. We have regular colors we can use.
Do use: Headshot of Dhruti Bhagat-Conway, a person with light beige skin, from the shoulders up, smiling, in a sweater and glasses, with shoulder-length black wavy hair
To help you, this is my proposed scale of words to use to describe a skin color from lightest to darkest:
Pale, beige, tawny, tan, brown, with lots of qualifiers to help distinguish between shades. For example, light beige, pale pink, dark brown, medium tan, etc. Of course, colors are subjective, and I’m not expecting everyone to agree on what exactly dark brown looks like versus very dark brown. But, the goal here is to illustrate for the reader and give them a general sense of who you are describing.
Even though this post is about using skin color, I will add that making gender assumptions is not a good idea. If you know that person’s preferred gender, use it, otherwise, stick with gender-neutral language.
Dhruti Bhagat-Conway 