[curlftpfs]

Is "alt text" a colloquialism understood by laymen? I typically use the term "text alternatives" when speaking with clients. It's a specific attribute, it might be supplanted by `aria-label`, etc

https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Understanding/conformance#text...

[coldpie]

I think it broadly is, yes. For example the text is available by an "ALT" button in the bottom-left of the image on Twitter, https://twitter.com/NASAWebb/status/1546621080298835970

The name most likely comes from the "alt" attribute for "img" tags in HTML, if I were to guess.