Alt text and accessible images | Doghouse SaaS Knowledge Base [Skip to content](#main) [ ![Doghouse SaaS Knowledge Base](/storage/branding/01M3N8PQ7PSDNQBBKKJM6XGW03.svg) ](https://nginx.deploy-lagoon-production.districtcms-docs.dh1.amazee.io) [Product documentation](/articles) [Roadmap](/roadmap) Toggle navigation [Product documentation](/articles) [Roadmap](/roadmap) 1. [Home](/) › 2. [Product documentation](/articles) › 3. [Accessibility & content quality](/articles?category=20) › 4. Alt text and accessible images Alt text and accessible images ============================== Updated 5 days ago · 4 min read Search Search Overview -------- Alt text is a short written description of an image, read aloud by screen readers and shown if the image fails to load. Without it, a visitor using assistive technology gets no information about the image at all. > **⚠️ Important:** Alt text is required on this site. You cannot save an image without one. --- Where you add it ---------------- Images are managed as media items, so alt text is entered wherever you add or edit an image, whether that is uploading a new one or picking an existing one from the media library. 1. Add or select an image, as you would for any media field. 2. In **Alternative text**, describe what the image shows. 3. Save. ![The Alternative text field on an image media item, marked as required and outlined in red, with its helper text about screen readers.](/storage/eGAuyhYRnetWggPbQqnEvQAcl3pywXYd1HKeEzm1.png) Because media items are reused rather than copied, the alt text travels with the image wherever it appears. Change it once, in the media library, and every page using that image updates. See [**File and media management**](/articles/file-and-media-management). > **💡 Note:** Logos and icons supplied as SVG files use a separate media type, **SVG Image**, which accepts .svg files only. Alt text is required there too. --- When one image needs different alt text --------------------------------------- The same photo can mean different things in different places. When you place an image in body text, you can give it alt text for that spot alone, without changing the media item everyone else uses. Select the image in the editor. A small toolbar appears beneath it. Choose **Override media image alternative text**. ![An image embedded in the editor, with the small toolbar beneath it outlined in red, including Override media image alternative text.](/storage/Y02EWPYpeY4aU1q4XT1auZtdCcZATkDUHTazUpIq.png) ![The alternative text override panel beneath an embedded image, outlined in red, with the Decorative image switch and the Alternative text override field.](/storage/N3XqEi51227BfotmZPdtakVf0xsub2s7aqbiXgTQ.png) Option When to use it Leave it as it is Almost always. The image keeps the alt text from the media library. Alternative text override This page needs a different description, because the image is doing a different job here. It applies to this placement only. Decorative image The image carries no information of its own, such as a divider or a background flourish. Screen readers then skip it rather than reading a description nobody needs. > **💡 Note:** An override is also the usual reason a change in the media library does not show up on a page. If you have corrected the alt text centrally and one page still reports the old wording, check whether that placement has been overridden. --- Writing alt text that helps --------------------------- Do Avoid Describe what matters about the image in context. *"Residents seated at a community information session."* Restating the caption or nearby text word for word. Keep it concise. A sentence or two is usually enough. Starting with "Image of" or "Picture of": screen readers already announce it as an image. Describe the content, not just the file. *"Bar chart showing a 12% rise in freight volumes."* Leaving it generic, such as "chart" or "photo". A caption is not alt text. A caption is shown on the page for everyone to read, while alt text is for people who cannot see the image. If you use both, do not repeat one in the other. --- When the checker flags an image ------------------------------- The accessibility checker, which administrators see on this site, does more than look for missing alt text. Its image checks fall into three groups. What it looks at Examples Missing or empty No alt text at all, or alt text made only of spaces. Wording that does not help Starting with "image of", generic words such as photo or graphic, a file name or web address, leftover placeholder text, or a description that runs very long. Images used as links An image that is itself a link and has no alt text, or a link holding both an image and text. The last group is the one to fix first. When a linked image has no alt text, the link has nothing to announce, so someone using a screen reader is told only that a link exists, with no clue where it goes. Some of these are reported as errors and some as manual checks, because the checker cannot always tell for certain. Either way, open the flagged image and add or rewrite the alt text so it tells a visitor something the rest of the page does not already say. See [**Using the accessibility checker**](/articles/accessibility-checker). Related articles ------------------ - [ File and media management → ](/articles/file-and-media-management) - [ Using the accessibility checker → ](/articles/accessibility-checker) Was this article helpful? ------------------------- Your feedback helps us prioritise what to rewrite. 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