Images add an important element to text. They are used to provide another means of conveying information. If images are not labeled correctly, than they become inaccessible and their meaning lost in translation. Alternative text is necessary for images to be accessible and for assistive technology to identify and accurately describe an image.
Image with no alternative attribute
The alternative or alt attribute is a description of the image which is read out loud by a screen reader. If the alt attribute is missing than the screen reader will default to the image file name and read that to the user. An example of an alt attribute for an image is <img src="/images/logo/westernmichigan-logo.png" alt="Western Michigan logo">
Decorative images
Decorative images which do not convey meaning or provide support for the surrounding content should have an empty al attribute. Here is an example: <img src="/images/scene/decorative-image.png" alt=""> The presence of an empty alt attribute will hide an image from users of assistive technology. See Siteimprove's video for more information on the Importance of Alternative Text:
Image link missing alternative text
Screen reader users enlist different techniques to navigate and scan through a page. One option used is to generate an alphabetized list of links on the page. This means that links should be descriptive and to avoid text like click here, read more, learn more. For more information about addressing this issue, view the Siteimprove video on How to Address Link Text Issues: