How to test
Images
Every image must expose the right text alternative for its purpose — or be hidden if it is purely decorative. The test is about meaning, not just the presence of an alt attribute.
What to test
- Informative images have alt text conveying their meaning, not their file name.
- Decorative images are hidden from assistive tech (empty alt="" or aria-hidden).
- Functional images (icon buttons, logo links) describe the action or destination.
- Complex images (charts, diagrams) have an extended description nearby or linked.
- Text baked into images is avoided, or duplicated as real text.
How to test
- 1Turn images off (or use a text-only view) and confirm the page still makes sense.
- 2Navigate image-by-image in a screen reader (NVDA/JAWS “g”) and listen to each announcement.
- 3Inspect the accessible name in the browser's accessibility tree.
- 4For each image ask: does the alt convey what a sighted user gets — no more, no less?
Common failures
- alt="image", alt="logo", or the raw filename.
- Decorative images given descriptive alt that adds noise.
- Icon-only buttons with no accessible name.
- Charts with alt="chart" and no underlying data description.