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An Image Has No Text Alternative
Screen readers can't describe an image with no text alternative, so people miss what it shows, or hear a meaningless file name instead.
image-altWCAG 2.0Introduced in WCAG 2.0.Level AA — the minimum. Missing it blocks people outright.
- Status
- CriticalCritical — Someone can complete the task only with great difficulty or outside help.CurrentScanners run this rule today.
- Owner
- DesignDevContentTest
- Audit
- Automated+ManualA scanner finds it; a person confirms the fix.
Why it matters
The alt attribute is a short text that stands in for an image. Screen readers read it aloud. It also shows if the image fails to load.
With no alt, some screen readers read the file name, like "IMG_4521.jpg". Others say only "image". If the image is a link or a button, people can't tell where it goes or what it does.
Who it affects
| Who | What they experience | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Screen reader users | They hear "image" or a file name, and miss the picture's meaning or the link's purpose. | High impact |
| Low-vision users (magnification) | Many use screen readers or magnifiers with speech, so they meet the same gap. | Partial impact |
| Cognitive and neurodivergent users | Some use text-to-speech tools that skip or garble unlabelled images. | Partial impact |
| Voice control users | An image link with no text has no name they can say aloud to click it. | Partial impact |
Business & product impact
| Area | Why | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Legal | It fails WCAG 1.1.1 at Level A, the minimum. Missing alt text is one of the most cited problems in complaints under Australia's Disability Discrimination Act and EN 301 549. | High impact |
| Conversion | Product photos and image buttons with no text leave shoppers guessing. Some will give up. | Moderate impact |
| SEO | Search engines do read alt text for image search, but the gain is small. Don't write it for keywords. | Low impact |
| Brand trust | It's the best-known accessibility mistake. Getting it wrong looks careless. | Moderate impact |
| Cost to fix | Adding alt text is cheap. Build it into your content system so every upload asks for it. | High impact |
Fixing it in code
A photo that carries meaning
Don't
<img src="team-2024.jpg">A screen reader says: “team-2024.jpg, image”
Do
<img src="team-2024.jpg" alt="Our six support staff standing outside the Brisbane office">A screen reader says: “Our six support staff standing outside the Brisbane office, image”
The alt text tells people what the photo shows.
A logo that links home
Don't
<a href="/"><img src="logo.svg"></a>A screen reader says: “logo.svg, link”
Do
<a href="/"><img src="logo.svg" alt="Acme home"></a>A screen reader says: “Acme home, link”
For a linked image, describe where the link goes.
A purely decorative image
Don't
<img src="swirl.png">A screen reader says: “swirl.png, image”
Do
<img src="swirl.png" alt="">A screen reader says: “(nothing — the image is skipped)”
An empty alt tells screen readers to skip decoration.
Designer's handoff note
In your designs, mark each image as meaningful or decorative.
For meaningful images, write the alt text in the handoff. Keep it short and say what matters in context.
Quick test
Tool
VoiceOver (opens in a new tab) (on every Mac)
Checklist
- Pass
- Each meaningful image has a useful description, and decorative ones are skipped.
- Fail
- You hear a file name, "image" alone, or an image link with no clear destination.
What a green scan still misses
A scanner only checks that alt exists. It can't tell whether the text is accurate, useful, or just "image" — a person has to read it.
Reference
- Rule ID
image-alt- Raised by
- axe-core: “Images must have alternative text”
- Lighthouse: “Image elements have [alt] attributes”
- WCAG
- 1.1.1 Non-text Content (opens in a new tab) · Level A · since WCAG 2.0
- Other standards
- EN 301 549 9.1.1.1 · RGAA 1.1.1
- Last reviewed
- 14 October 2026