Extract Alt-Texts

[nadine wohlfahrt]

Hi everyone,

extracting Alt-Texts directly out of the Indesign-document would be great.

here is my exact Problem right now:

I have an older document, with about 200 pictures with Alt-Texts.

The Alt-Texts are unfortunately entered per hand with the Object-Export-Options in indesign, not in the Picture information itself.

Now we need only the Alt-Texts somehow extracted in a single Text-File or if possible a thumbnail of the pic with its Alt-Text beneath it.

Has anybody a solution for this Problem yet?
I would appreciate a good workflow or workaround without klicking every picture by hand and copy and paste the Text.

Thank you very much in advance

Nadine

[oleh_melnyk]

So, basically you need to get the plain text out of InDesign, right?

How about this workflow: export to PDF file, then open PDF in Adobe Acrobat and resave as plain text

Alternatively, you should be able to open PDF file in Microsoft Word

[nadine wohlfahrt]

This brings me just all the plain texts, and not the extracted ALT-texts from the images to the text document.
Even if it also would extract the alt-texts (but I didn’t see any of them in my first try – did I do something wrong?) I would have to copy and paste the 200 snippets of alt-text out of that document, right?  – It would still be a first solution of the problem, of course.

[oleh_melnyk]

Sorry, I probably misunderstood what alt-text is - I thought that was image captions

Can you clarify what you mean by "extracting alt-texts"? Maybe some screenshots?

UPD

Oh, now I understand what is alt texts... what you need probably can be done with custom InDesign script

[oleh_melnyk · Accepted solution]

OK, try this script:

Dropbox - ExportAltText.jsx

https://indesignsecrets.com/how-to-install-scripts-in-indesign.php

So, basically, all you need is to open your InDesign document, then "open" (double-click) on my script.

It will go through all images in the document and get all Alt Text, then save them to the desktop txt file in the format:

IMAGE_NAME

ALT_TEXT

IMAGE_NAME

ALT_TEXT

...

[nadine wohlfahrt]

Wow, this seems to work!

I tested it only on a small file yet, and will try the bigger one in the next days, because I’m not on my workstation right now.

Thank you very much for this script – you are a lifesaver!

Best regards, happily,

Nadine

[MDELL1982]

Hi,

Would there be a further script to re-import this file if you wanted to make changes? This would be a life saver!

Thanks

[debraleag]

I realize this is old, but I just used it on a file in InDesign CC 2020 and it saved my life. Thank you!

[maaritv5225445]

Hi!
Above Script is not working in InDesign 17.4 with MacOS 12.6 – any ideas what's changed?
Best regards,
Maarit

[Bailehima]

Great! it worked for me. Also is it possible to add page number?

[debraleag]

William Campbell wrote a fantastic Links Report sscript that will provide the alt text, page number, and more.

https://www.marspremedia.com/software/indesign/#links-report

[SergioMatos]

Hello,

This might not be possible but with the Export Alt Text Script above, can this be then reversed after?

After an Export, if I needed to change any of the alt text in the AltText.txt file then import it back to Indesign?

AltText-Export.jsx

//DESCRIPTION: This script will export all all text into single txt document on your desktop.

#target indesign

var images = app.activeDocument.allGraphics; // .itemLink.name

var altTextFilePath = "~/Desktop/AltText.txt";

var file = new File(altTextFilePath);

file.open('w');

for(var i=0; i < images.length; i++){

    file.write(  images.itemLink.name + "\n" + images.parent.objectExportOptions.customAltText + "\n\n" );

}

file.close();

alert('You can find "AltText.txt" file on your desktop', "Done");

[Laubender]

Note that Alt-Text with Hyperlinks, new feature in InDesign 2020 version 15.0.0.155, is not supported by scripting.

It is also not supported with IDML or IDMS files.

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

[Jean-Claude Tremblay]

Note that Alt-Text with Hyperlinks, new feature in InDesign 2020 version 15.0.0.155, is not supported by scripting.

It is also not supported with IDML or IDMS files.

By @Laubender

Hi Uwe,  do you know if this is still the case with CC2021, 2022?

[Bevi Chagnon - PubCom]

Hyperlinks within Alt-Text is not supported by any standard or assistive technology. Within Alt-Text, the hyperlink is just plain readable text, and the hyperlink is not active nor clickable.

Instead, do you mean adding Alt-text on hyperlinks? That indeed is a new feature from 2020 onward, but it still is not exporting correctly to a PDF and, therefore, isn't worth setting at this time. It's a task you'll have to do manually in Acrobat Pro.

Note, however, that Alt-Text is NOT required for all hyperlinks. That's a misreading of the standards. Alt-Text is needed when hyperlinks are long and complex, or when it's not clear from the text of the hyperlink or the preceding body text the purpose of clicking the link (aka, where will the user end up if they clicked it).

The URL for this webpage is a good example of when Alt-Text is needed.

—Bevi Chagnon

US Delegate to the ISO committees for PDF and PDF/UA accessibility, and former contributor to the WCAG web standards

[Jean-Claude Tremblay]

I was refering to the new features of adding Alt-text on hyperlinks.
Thanks for the clarifiaction when it is required.

[Laubender]

"Note that Alt-Text with Hyperlinks, new feature in InDesign 2020 version 15.0.0.155, is not supported by scripting.

It is also not supported with IDML or IDMS files."

Hi Jean-Claude,

still true with InDesign 2021 and 2022.

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )