The order of your rental photos, and how to write alt text for each one
Lead with your strongest exterior or living room photo, then walk through the home in the order a visitor would, ending with the outdoor space and the building. Give every photo a short alt text that says what is in it, such as "Kitchen with white cabinets and a gas range". Alt text lets screen reader users hear the listing and helps search engines understand the images. Keep it to facts, not sales talk.
The order that works
- The lead photo: the most inviting honest view, often the living room or the front of the building in daylight.
- Living area, then kitchen.
- Bedrooms, largest first.
- Bathrooms.
- Special features: laundry, storage, a balcony or a garage.
- Outdoor space, parking and the building entrance.
- A floor plan, if you have one.
The first photo is the one shown on cards and in shares, so choose it on purpose. For how to shoot each room see what to shoot.
Why alt text matters
Alt text is a short written description attached to an image. The W3C's accessibility guidance explains that it gives people who cannot see an image, such as screen reader users, the equivalent information, and that how you write it depends on the purpose of the image (see W3C's images tutorial). Google's image guidance says alt text helps its systems understand an image and recommends descriptive text without keyword stuffing (see Google's image practices). For a rental listing, the same sentence serves a blind renter and a search engine.
How to write it
- Describe what is visible, in one short sentence, with no "image of" or "photo of".
- Name the room and one or two features: "Living room with hardwood floors and two south windows".
- Mention a fact a renter would ask about: "Bathroom with a walk-in shower and grab bar".
- Skip adjectives you cannot show, such as "gorgeous" and "luxury".
- Do not describe people. Do not say who the home suits.
| Photo | Weak alt text | Better alt text |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchen | Kitchen | Kitchen with white cabinets, a gas range and a dishwasher |
| Bedroom | Beautiful bedroom perfect for a couple | Bedroom with a window and a double closet |
| Entrance | Front | Step-free entrance with a covered porch |
Example a made-up listing has 9 photos. The owner spends 10 minutes writing nine one-line descriptions. A renter who uses a screen reader can now hear the whole home described, and the page gives search engines nine accurate image descriptions instead of file names like IMG_4021.
Fair housing applies to photos and captions
Under 42 U.S.C. 3604(c), a published rental ad may not state a preference or limitation based on a protected class (see the statute). Photos with people, or alt text and captions that point to a type of resident, can create that problem. Keep people out of the frame where you can and describe the home only. See fair housing, ads, photos and placement. Describing accessibility features accurately, such as a step-free entrance or a roll-in shower, is helpful and allowed.
How DoorKeeping handles it
A DoorKeeping listing uses up to 20 photos from the unit's or the property's pictures, chosen on the Listings screen, with the unit's first picture offered first. Photos of tenants, leases, IDs, receipts, notices, insurance and inspections are never offered. The AI tour, made from those photos, gives each one a room name and a caption and carries alt text on every photo, and the text passes the same fair housing check as the listing. See the connect page for the listing and tour tools.
Sources
- W3C Web Accessibility Initiative: Images tutorial, read Oct 30, 2026
- Google Search Central: Google Image SEO best practices, read Oct 30, 2026
- Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3604 (Cornell Legal Information Institute), read Oct 30, 2026
- DoorKeeping: Connect Claude or ChatGPT (steps and tools list), read Oct 30, 2026
Questions
- What order should rental photos be in?
- A strong lead photo, then living area, kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms, features, outdoor space and a floor plan, in the order a visitor would walk.
- What is alt text?
- A short written description of an image that screen readers read aloud and search engines use to understand the picture.
- How long should alt text be?
- One short sentence that names the room and a feature or two.
- Can I put people in rental photos?
- Avoid it. People in photos and captions about who a home suits can create fair housing problems. Show the home.