Call a projection of a link an almost alternating projection if one crossing change in the projection makes it an alternating projection. Then an almost alternating link is a link with an almost alternating projection, but no alternating projection. Every alternating knot has an almost alternating projection. A prime knot which is almost alternating is either a torus knot or a hyperbolic knot. Therefore, no satellite knot is an almost alternating knot.
All nonalternating 9-crossing prime knots are almost alternating. Of the 393 nonalternating knots and links with 11 or fewer crossings,
all but five are known to be almost alternating (and 3 of these have 11 crossings).
The fate of the remaining five is not known. The 
-, 
-, and 
-torus knots are almost alternating
(Adams 1994, p. 142).
