On-page and content

How to add alt text to your images

Images on these pages have no alt attribute. Alt text is what screen-reader users hear instead of the image, what appears when it fails to load, and what puts your images in image search.

What it is, and what it costs

The alt attribute describes an image in words. Missing it shuts out screen-reader users (an accessibility and, in some places, a legal issue), loses the fallback when an image breaks, and forfeits image-search traffic, which for visual and product sites can be significant.

How to fix it

Describe each meaningful image in a few plain words that say what it shows. Purely decorative images should have an empty alt="": that is correct markup telling assistive tech to skip them, not a missing attribute.

  • WordPress: set alt text in the Media Library or the block's image settings.
  • Shopify: each product image has an alt-text field in the admin.

How to check your site

Crawl the site to find images without alt, or use an accessibility checker. Aim for coverage on content and product images; decorative ones just need the empty alt.

Questions people ask

Should I put keywords in alt text?
Describe the image honestly first. If a keyword fits naturally, fine; stuffing them reads as spam and fails the accessibility purpose.

Does your site have this?

Check your site to find images missing alt text.

See also

All SEO checks →