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An image has no alt text

In the reportImage missing alt attribute

image_missing_alt_attribute · Review item

Short answer

This appears when an <img> on a page has no alt attribute at all, and none of the naming or decorative exceptions this check reads applies. Assistive technology may then announce only a file name, and Google loses a clue about what the image shows. Add alt text that describes informative images, and alt="" to decorative ones.

Severity: Low. Handle it in your next round of content changes; it is an accessibility and image-context fix, not a ranking blocker.

Why it matters

The HTML standard generally requires the alt attribute on images, with an empty value for purely decorative ones, and allows narrowly defined exceptions. Without a text alternative, assistive technology may not convey the image's purpose, and Google uses alt text, with the page and computer vision, to understand what an image shows.

What to do

  1. Look at the finding: it lists up to ten images without alt, with their positions and, where available, their addresses.
  2. Add alt text that says what each informative image shows, usually in the image settings of your website editor.
  3. Add alt="" to images that are only decoration, so assistive technology skips them.

When to leave it as it is: if an image is already named another way that the check does not read, or is added and described by a script, you can leave it; the check reads the HTML only.

What we read

We read every <img> in the HTML of each page that answered 200, including the one inside <picture>, without running JavaScript; images inside <noscript> or <template> are skipped. An image is reported only when it has no alt attribute at all: alt="" passes as decorative.

An image without alt still passes when it carries aria-hidden="true", role="none" or role="presentation", a non-empty aria-label or title, an aria-labelledby whose referenced IDs all exist, or sits in a <figure> with a caption. Images inside a link that has no other name are left to the image-link check. Pages marked noindex are checked too.

Example & evidence

Illustrative example — one page, not a live audit.

Address: https://bakery.example/cakes/. The main content we read:

<img src="/img/lemon-cake.jpg" width="600" height="400">
<img src="/img/divider.png" alt="">

The cake photo has no alt, so the page is reported with that image. The divider has alt="" and passes as decorative.

A possible correction:

<img src="/img/lemon-cake.jpg" width="600" height="400" alt="Lemon cake topped with candied lemon slices">

Confirm & check again

Check for yourself: view the page source and search for <img; each should carry an alt attribute, empty for decoration.

Check again: Full audit — re-read this address; the page must answer 200 with complete HTML. The finding closes when no image on it matches this rule after its naming and decorative exceptions. A page that is only a frame for scripts cannot be confirmed. A new full audit can also close it when complete evidence shows the address answering directly with 200 and a file that is not HTML, or starting with a permanent redirect whose whole chain stays within your site, provided the check gives a usable result.

Limits & sources

The check does not judge whether alt text is accurate, or whether an image is informative or decorative. <area> and <input type="image">, CSS backgrounds and images added by JavaScript are not checked.

Confidence: High because the attribute's presence is read directly from the HTML.

Sources

Editorial review: 29 September 2026