diff --git a/distribusi/cli.py b/distribusi/cli.py
index 5421a69..4e03cf8 100644
--- a/distribusi/cli.py
+++ b/distribusi/cli.py
@@ -41,9 +41,9 @@ def build_argparser():
     )
 
     parser.add_argument(
-        "-c",
-        "--captions",
-        help="Adds image captions based on EXIF metadata",
+        "-a",
+        "--alttexts",
+        help="Adds file alttext based on same named files",
         action="store_true",
     )
 
diff --git a/distribusi/distribusi.py b/distribusi/distribusi.py
index 0d2e23b..302099d 100644
--- a/distribusi/distribusi.py
+++ b/distribusi/distribusi.py
@@ -3,22 +3,23 @@ import os
 
 import magic
 from PIL import Image
-from exif import Image as ExifImage
 from distribusi.page_template import html_footer, html_head
 from distribusi.mappings import CODE_TYPES, FILE_TYPES, SUB_TYPES
 
 MIME_TYPE = magic.Magic(mime=True)
 
 
-def caption(image):
+def add_alttext(full_path_image):
     try:
-        with open(image, "rb") as image_file:
-            exif_image = ExifImage(image_file)
-            caption = exif_image.communication
+        image_filename_no_ext = os.path.splitext(full_path_image)[0]
+        alttext_filename = f'{image_filename_no_ext}_alttext.txt'
+        if os.path.isfile(alttext_filename):
+            print(f"{image_filename_no_ext} has {alttext_filename}")
+            with open(alttext_filename, 'r') as alttext_file:
+                return alttext_file.read()
     except Exception as e:
-        print(e)
-        caption = ""
-    return caption
+        print(f"exception {e} raised while making alttext")
+        return
 
 
 def thumbnail(full_path_image, name, args):
@@ -63,7 +64,6 @@ def check_distribusi_index(args, index):
     """
     check whether a index.html file is generated by distribusi
     """
-
     if not args.force:
         with open(index, "r") as f:
             if '<meta name="generator" content="distribusi" />' in f.read():
@@ -114,15 +114,15 @@ def handle_text_files(name, full_path):
 
 def handle_image_files(name, full_path, args):
     if args.thumbnail:
-        caption = ""
         thumbnail_filename = thumbnail(full_path, name, args)
         if thumbnail_filename is None:
             return
-        if args.captions:
-            caption = caption(full_path)
-        return f"<figure><a href='{name}'><img class='thumbnail' src='{thumbnail_filename}'></a><figcaption>{caption}</figcaption></figure>"
-
-    return FILE_TYPES[type_].format(name, caption)
+        if args.alttexts:
+            image_alttext = add_alttext(full_path)
+        if image_alttext is None:
+            return f'<a href="{name}"><img class="thumbnail" src="{thumbnail_filename}" alt="{name}"></a>'
+        return f'<a href="{name}"><img class="thumbnail" src="{thumbnail_filename}" alt="{image_alttext}"></a>'
+    return FILE_TYPES[type_].format(name, image_alttext)
 
 
 def remove_index_html(root, files):
@@ -169,10 +169,13 @@ def distribusify(args, directory):  # noqa
             if name.endswith("_thumbnail.jpg"):
                 continue
 
+            if name.endswith("_alttext.txt"):
+                continue
+
             full_path = os.path.join(root, name)
             mime = MIME_TYPE.from_file(full_path)
             type_, subtype = mime.split("/")
-            caption = name
+            alttext = name
 
             if args.verbose:
                 print("Found", name, "as", mime)
@@ -185,7 +188,7 @@ def distribusify(args, directory):  # noqa
                         if tag is None:
                             continue
                     case _:
-                        tag = FILE_TYPES[type_].format(name, caption)
+                        tag = FILE_TYPES[type_].format(name, alttext)
 
             if subtype in SUB_TYPES:
                 tag = SUB_TYPES[subtype]
diff --git a/distribusi/mappings.py b/distribusi/mappings.py
index 668ea2e..677d2a3 100644
--- a/distribusi/mappings.py
+++ b/distribusi/mappings.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 CODE_TYPES = ["x-c", "x-shellscript", "x-python"]
 
 FILE_TYPES = {
-    "image": '<figure><img class="image" src="{}"><figcaption>{}</figcaption></figure>',
+    "image": '<img class="image" src="{}" alt="{}">',
     "text": '<a href="{}" class="text">{}</a>',
     "video": ("<video controls>" '<source src="{}"></video>'),
     "audio": ('<audio controls class="audio">' '<source src="{}"></audio>'),