How Important Is ALT Text In Search Engine Optimization?

WebProNews published an article on the relevance of the ALT-tag in search engine optimization and after extended test they state: “None of the major engines considers ALT text when determining relevancy.”

According to research by expert SEO researcher Jerry West of WebMarketingNow and Search Engine Academy, at the present time, none of the “Big Three” search engines (Google, Yahoo!, MSN), considers ALT text when determining relevancy.
 
West explains, “Over the last six months, we have seen a trend on our testing servers that shows that using ALT text for SEO purposes has not only diminished, but adversely affects the rankings in the SERPs. It is clear that search engines continue to catch up to “SEO tricks” that are intended to improve search engine ranking while damaging the visitor experience. The American Disabilities Act (ADA) has strict guidelines as to what your site needs to contain in order to be ADA compliant. I guarantee you, they do not look favourably at ALT text that has been keyword stuffed.
 
“Have you ever witnessed a visually impaired individual use the Web? With a device which reads aloud the contents of a Web page, the impaired individual will be inundated with what I refer to as ALT Text Spam. Sometimes the reader is stuck on one graphic for more than 40 seconds reading all of the keywords that have been stuffed.”
 
“According to a Google engineer, what you should do it create an ALT tag that is relevant to the picture, so it gives the user a good experience, including the visually impaired. The ALT text is indexed, but it is downgraded in the algorithm. The reason?
 
“‘We see ALT text as relevant as the keyword metatag,” said the engineer. That should say it all as Google has never used the keyword metatag due to the high spam rate.
 
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Source: WebProNews