Image alt text possibilities

Alternative text describes images for assistive technologies and helps search understand non-decorative visuals. We report pages where many images lack alt, some lack alt, or some use empty alt—empty can be valid for decorative images, so review context.

What we look for

We inspect image elements in the crawled HTML and classify alt coverage according to product rules (missing vs empty vs OK).

What to do

Add concise, accurate alt for informative images. Use empty alt for purely decorative images. Avoid keyword stuffing.

Example

Describe product photos; use empty alt for purely decorative dividers:

<img
  src="/images/leather-tote-front.jpg"
  alt="Brown leather tote bag with brass handles on a white background"
  width="800"
  height="600"
/>

<img src="/images/sparkle-divider.svg" alt="" width="120" height="8" />

Technical details

Intent (decorative vs informative) is not inferred automatically—patterns are surfaced for human review. See On-page and technical signals.