Before · critical finding
Alt attribute is missing
<img src="shirt.jpg">Accessibility issue guide · image alternatives
Give each meaningful image a useful text alternative.
ClearSite can find images with no alt attribute, show the affected element and help you verify the source-level repair. A person must still decide whether the image needs meaningful text or should be ignored as decorative.
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Missing, empty and meaningful
The right alternative depends on what the image does.
An omitted alt attribute leaves many screen readers to announce a filename or other unhelpful fallback. A meaningful image needs an alternative that conveys its purpose. A purely decorative image should normally use alt="" so it can be skipped.
Automation can reliably detect some missing alternatives. It cannot reliably decide whether supplied wording communicates the right thing in context.
Primary guidance: the W3C WAI image decision tree and WCAG 2.2 explanation of non-text content.
Controlled fixture · axe-core 4.11
One missing attribute. Two valid repairs for different purposes.
We tested the same image with axe-core's image-alt rule. Omitting the alt attribute returned one critical finding. A meaningful alternative passed, and an empty alternative also passed when the fixture treated the image as decorative.
After · informative image
Purpose is available in text
<img src="shirt.jpg" alt="Blue linen shirt with short sleeves">After · decorative image
Image is deliberately ignored
<img src="divider.svg" alt="">This is a controlled fixture, not customer evidence or a conformance claim. The rule's scope is documented in the axe-core image-alt explanation.
Choose the repair by purpose
Do not fill every alt field with the same formula.
The image adds information
Write concise alternative text that communicates the image's purpose in this exact page context. Do not begin with “image of”.
<img src="shirt.jpg" alt="Blue linen shirt with short sleeves">The image is decorative
Use an empty alt attribute so assistive technology can ignore it. Do not omit the attribute entirely.
<img src="divider.svg" alt="">The image is a link or control
Describe the destination or action, not the pixels. A linked logo might be named “ClearSite home”.
<a href="/"><img src="logo.svg" alt="ClearSite home"></a>The image contains complex information
Provide a short alternative and put the full chart, diagram or infographic explanation in nearby page content.
<img src="sales-chart.png" alt="Sales rose each quarter; full data follows">From finding to verified fix
Fix the content source, then judge the wording.
- 01
Confirm the affected image
Use the rendered element from the finding to locate the exact image, icon, SVG or image input on the page.
- 02
Decide its purpose in context
Ask what someone misses if the image is unavailable. The same asset may need different text, or no announced text, in different contexts.
- 03
Repair the shared source
Change the CMS field, product data, component, theme template or app block that supplies the image instead of patching one rendered page.
- 04
Re-scan the same URL
Confirm the machine-detectable missing-alt finding clears after the source change reaches the rendered page.
- 05
Review the wording manually
Read the page without seeing the image. Check that the alternative is useful, concise and does not repeat adjacent text.
What ClearSite can detect
Rendered images that axe-core can determine have no text alternative, with the affected element attached to the finding.
What a re-scan can prove
Whether the machine-detectable missing-alt finding clears after the source change renders on the same page.
What still needs a person
Whether the image is meaningful or decorative and whether its wording communicates the right purpose without repetition.
Browse the website accessibility issue library, compare the related form-label repair guide and colour-contrast guide, or read the full automated testing workflow and limits.
Check the images on a page people need to use.
Run it free, repair the image source, then re-scan and review the wording.
Find missing image alternatives