Write image alternative text for the job the picture does on that page. A photograph showing a specific feature may need a short description of that feature; an image used as a button needs to communicate its action. A purely decorative image can use an empty alternative, so it does not repeat information for someone using a screen reader.
Start with the page around the image. Ask what a visitor would miss if the picture were unavailable. The answer changes when the same photograph is used as decoration, as evidence of a project or as the only link to another page.
Decide what the picture contributes
Imagine a service page describing fitted storage. If a photograph shows the completed cupboard and the adjacent text already explains its colour and position, the alternative might add the detail the text leaves out: “Shelves fitted around a sloping alcove”. If the text already describes that detail fully and the photograph adds no further information, repeating the same sentence may be unnecessary.
These are illustrative examples, not descriptions of a Formby Web Design project. Use the actual photograph and approved facts. Do not infer a material, location, customer or result that cannot be confirmed from the image and project record.
The W3C image decision tree helps distinguish informative, decorative and functional images. Keep useful alternatives concise; a paragraph of sales copy or a string of place names makes the page harder to use and does not explain the image’s purpose.
Treat links and buttons as actions
If a magnifying-glass image is the only content of a search button, its accessible name needs to tell the visitor the action, such as “Search”, rather than describe the shape. A linked logo may need to identify the business and its homepage destination. Where meaningful link text already sits inside the same link alongside a decorative image, a second repeated label can be distracting.
Check the actual link or button, not the image file in isolation. The W3C functional-image guidance illustrates how adjacent text and link structure affect the right alternative. Ask the person maintaining the site to verify the resulting accessible name if the editor or theme generates the control.
Use an empty alternative deliberately
An image included only for atmosphere may add no information beyond nearby text. For an HTML image that is genuinely decorative, an empty alternative is written as alt="". It is different from leaving the attribute absent; W3C notes that some screen readers can announce a filename when the attribute is missing.
Do not mark an image decorative just because a description is inconvenient. A chart, diagram or menu image may contain details a visitor needs. Put complex information in accessible page text or a properly structured table, then give the image a concise alternative that identifies it and points the reader to that information where appropriate. A poster containing opening times should not be the only place those times appear.
Add and check the alternative in context
In WordPress, the Image block provides an alternative-text field. Other blocks, galleries, themes and third-party widgets can handle images differently. The same media file may appear on several pages, so check whether a change to a shared media entry affects other uses before saving. Where the editor allows per-use alternatives, write for that page’s particular purpose.
Review a representative service page, project image and linked logo. Look for missing alternatives, repeated link names, text embedded only in an image and alternatives that claim more than the picture shows. An automated tool can find some missing attributes; it cannot decide reliably whether a description communicates the right meaning in context.
The first-pass accessibility check covers the wider journey. For a Formby, Freshfield or L37 business planning website improvements, contact Formby Web Design with the page and the information customers need to find. A few image checks are useful, but they do not establish that a whole site meets an accessibility standard.
