An Image Alt-Text Audit Starts With Purpose, Not Keywords

Prepared with AI assistance for Design Den Solutions. The cover is a conceptual AI illustration with the original company logo composited unchanged.

An image audit becomes more useful when it asks what the image does in its specific page context. The same visual can be informative in one place and decorative in another. Do not generate a long keyword list and paste it into every alt attribute.

Classify the job of the image

For each image, record whether it communicates information, acts as a link or button, repeats nearby text or is decorative. Read the surrounding copy and the accessible name of any containing control. A filename alone is not enough context.

Describe what the reader needs

For an informative image, write a concise equivalent for the relevant information. A chart may also need a nearby explanation or data table. Avoid describing visual details that do not help someone understand the page’s purpose.

Do not name an icon instead of its action

When an image is the only content of a link, its text alternative needs to communicate the destination or action. If visible text already names the link, avoid an unnecessarily repeated name. Test the complete control rather than judging an isolated image.

Use empty alt deliberately

A decorative image can use alt="" when it adds no information needed in this context. Omitting alt is different: some assistive technologies may expose a filename. Check whether CSS background placement is appropriate and ensure important information is not available only in that background.

Verify in the actual page

Inspect the rendered HTML, disable images where useful and test the reading order and controls with appropriate assistive technology. Automated missing-alt checks help find candidates; they cannot decide whether a description is accurate or useful.

Two contexts, two alternatives

<!-- The icon is the link’s only content: name the action. -->
<a href="/contact/">
  <img src="message.svg" alt="Contact our team">
</a>

<!-- The visible link text already gives the name. -->
<a href="/contact/">
  <img src="message.svg" alt="">
  Contact our team
</a>

These snippets illustrate naming in context; use actual approved routes and assets. In the second example, the image does not need to repeat the adjacent link text. Check the resulting accessible name in your browser and test the complete control. An automated rule that requires every alt value to be non-empty would flag the wrong thing here.

Use the W3C WAI alt decision tree to structure the review, then apply it to your actual content. This is a practical implementation guide, not a claim that a site is fully accessible.

For related agency support, see Design Den Solutions’ accessible website implementation.

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