Every website
News, shopping, social feeds, forums, and web email. Images that load as you scroll are described too.
Free browser extension for Chrome & Edge
Hear what every image shows.
So many pictures online come without a description. Altly writes one for you and adds it to the page, so your screen reader simply reads it — on every website, with nothing new to learn.
Free with a Google Gemini key — setup takes about a minute. Prefer no setup? Try Altly Cloud free for 7 days.
Your screen reader says
BEFORE“Graphic, IMG_2041.jpg”
ALTLY“A wooden sign reading ‘Lake Aurora — No swimming after dark’ stands by a dock on a calm lake, with purple mountains and a small red sailboat under a sunset sky.”
Works withNVDAJAWSVoiceOverNarratorChromeVoxTalkBack
How it works
Set up once. Then just browse.
No new screen reader commands to learn. Altly quietly adds descriptions before you get to the pictures.
Install and add a free key
Add Altly to your browser. A friendly setup guide helps you get a free Google Gemini key in about a minute — or try Altly Cloud with no setup.
Browse like you always do
Altly finds images with missing or useless alt text, like “image” or “IMG_2041.jpg”, and writes a clear description.
Ask for more when you want it
Press Alt Shift D to hear about an image, get more detail, or ask a follow-up question.
Features
Designed screen-reader first.
Every part of Altly works by keyboard and is built around how NVDA, JAWS, and VoiceOver users browse.
Reads text in images
Screenshots, memes, posters, menus, and signs are transcribed. Charts get their key numbers and takeaway.
Ask follow-up questions
“What’s the person wearing?” “Is the food vegetarian?” Get answers about any image in a simple dialog.
Keyboard shortcuts
Describe one image or a whole page with a shortcut, or use the right-click menu. Shortcuts are customizable.
Your language
Descriptions in 18 languages, matched to your browser or to each page — including Chinese, Spanish, Arabic, and Hindi.
Low-vision friendly
Optional large, high-contrast captions appear when you point at an image. Supports dark mode and high contrast.
Privacy
Your browsing stays yours.
Altly only sends an image when it needs a description, and only to the AI service you choose. No accounts, no tracking, no ads.
- No browsing history, page text, or personal data is collected.
- With your own key, images go straight from your browser to your provider. We never see them.
- Altly Cloud processes images only to describe them and does not store them.
- Turn Altly off for any site, such as your bank, with one switch.
Pricing
Free for everyone.
Altly itself is free. Bring a free AI key, or let us handle it with Altly Cloud.
Free with your own key
$0 forever
Use a free Google Gemini key — Altly’s setup guide walks you through it in about a minute. Google’s free allowance covers most people’s everyday browsing.
- Every Altly feature, free
- Step-by-step help getting a free key
- Also works with OpenAI, Claude, and local models
- Images go straight to your AI provider, never through us
Altly Cloud
$4.99 / month
7 days free · no card neededFor anyone who’d rather not deal with AI keys. Paste one license key and you’re done.
- 2,000 image descriptions per month (300 during the trial)
- Fast, high-quality vision model
- Follow-up questions included
- Cancel anytime in a couple of clicks
Cost should never be a barrier. If you need Altly Cloud but can’t afford it, write to us — we’ll set you up for free, no questions asked.
Why we made Altly
Every picture someone shares is trying to say something — a new puppy, a funny sign, a chart that matters at work, a photo from a friend’s trip. Too often, people who use screen readers only hear “image.”
Altly is our small way of making sure the message gets through. It’s free to use, it respects your privacy, and we’re listening: if something could work better for you, tell us. A real person reads every message.
FAQ
Questions, answered.
Do I need to learn new screen reader commands?
No. Altly writes descriptions into each image’s alt text, which every screen reader already reads. Shortcuts are optional extras for when you want more.
Which images does Altly describe?
Images with no alt text, or with unhelpful alt text such as a file name or the word “image”. Images that sites mark as decorative, and tiny icons, are skipped by default. You can change this in settings.
How do I know a description came from AI?
Each description starts with “AI description:” by default, so you can tell it apart from the author’s own alt text. You can change or remove this prefix.
How accurate are the descriptions?
Modern vision models are very good at describing scenes and reading text, but they can make mistakes. For anything important — like medication labels or documents — ask a follow-up question or double-check another way.
Which browsers are supported?
Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Brave, Arc, Vivaldi, and other Chromium browsers on Windows, macOS, Linux, and ChromeOS.
Is it really free?
Yes. Altly is free, and Google Gemini gives every account a free daily allowance that covers most people’s browsing. If you use more, Altly tells you and starts again the next day. On Gemini’s free tier, Google may use requests to improve its services — if you’d prefer it didn’t, turn on billing in Google AI Studio or use another provider.
How does the Altly Cloud free trial work?
Start a 7-day trial with just your email — no card needed. If you’d like to keep going, add a card any time before the trial ends. If you don’t, the trial simply ends and you’re never charged.
What if I use a paid AI key?
With recommended models, a short description costs a fraction of a cent — most people spend less than $1 a month. Altly remembers descriptions so the same image is never paid for twice.
Will Altly slow down websites?
No. Altly works in the background, only for images near where you are on the page, and limits how many images it describes per page.
Every picture has something to say.
Install Altly for free and start hearing what you’ve been missing.