Image has no alt attribute

Why it matters

Screen reader users hear the file name or nothing at all, so they miss whatever the picture was telling everyone else. Search engines miss it too.

How to fix it

Add an alt attribute. Describe what the image shows or says, in a short sentence. If the image is purely decorative, use an empty alt (alt="") so screen readers skip it.

<!-- Before -->
<img src="team.jpg">

<!-- After: informative -->
<img src="team.jpg" alt="The four of us outside the studio, laughing at a whiteboard">

<!-- After: decorative -->
<img src="swirl.svg" alt="">

Related rules

• Alt text looks like a file name (WCAG 1.1.1)
• Alt text starts with "image of" or similar (WCAG 1.1.1)
• Alt text is very long (WCAG 1.1.1)
• SVG marked as an image has no name (WCAG 1.1.1)