Are alt tags for images just as friendly as text itself. Like if I were to have a logo instead of just plain text for the site title would that be a hinderance to SEO?
Yes,alt text will be read by the spiders. on the other hand, if you are using a logo or graphic or picture without the alt text then it will do no good to the seo value
I suggest you use text for your page titles and different tags. Alt text gives weigh to search engine ranking but for me, text weighs heavier compare to it.