Alt text that’s accurate, accessible, and never an afterthought

Image alt text for SEO and accessibility

Part of Yoast’s SEO analysis. From one post to thousands of product images, Yoast assesses your alt text as you work, so you catch gaps before you publish.

Included in Yoast SEO, Yoast SEO Premium, Yoast WooCommerce SEO, Yoast SEO for Shopify and Yoast SEO AI+

Built for catalogs

See what’s missing across your catalog in one place

Free in Yoast SEO

The assessments come with the free plugin

Every visitor

Not just the ones who can see the page

image alt text assessment in a blog — Yoast SEO Premium flags images missing alt text with your keyphrase, right in the post editor.

What does the image alt attributes check for?

Every informative image on your page needs alt text: a short description that stands in for the image when someone can’t see it. Yoast assesses your images as you write and tells you what to fix.

Images
Lets you know whether your content includes images.

Image alt attributes
On product pages, flags product images that have no alt text. It now focuses on the images that show your product: featured, gallery and variation images. Available in Yoast WooCommerce SEO.

How to fix your image alt text

Fix: images

Add an image that supports your content, then give it alt text that describes what it shows. On product pages, aim for at least four product images.

Fix: image alt attributes

Open the product image or gallery image from your product, then fill in its Alternative text field.

Fix: quality assessment

Describe what’s in the image in a phrase or short sentence. Use your keyphrase only where it fits, and skip “image of”.

Fix it faster with Yoast AI image alt text

What you get

Catch images with no alt text before you hit publish
Get feedback on whether your alt text reflects your topic, without tipping into keyword stuffing
See what’s missing across your catalog in one place
Build a site that works for every visitor, not just the ones who can see it

What makes alt text good

Decorative

Images that are purely visual, like a divider line, don’t need a description. An empty alt="" is correct, and screen readers skip right past it.

Functional

Images that are also a link or a button need alt text describing what happens when it’s activated, not what the image looks like.

Informative

Images that are there to inform, like a product photo or a diagram, need a real, concise description of their content.

Writing alt text that works

Check the surrounding text first

If a caption or body copy already covers what the image adds, an empty alt text is the right call. Alt text exists to fill a gap, not repeat the page.

Keep it concise

A phrase or a short sentence is usually enough. Long, run-on descriptions interrupt the reading flow for someone using a screen reader.

Skip "image of" and "photo of"

Screen readers already announce that it's an image, so adding that phrase just repeats information the user already has.

Rename the file, too

Alt text isn't the only description that matters. A filename like "product1234.jpg" tells search engines nothing; renaming it to something like "brown-leather-boots.jpg" reinforces the same context.

Alt text as search query Google AI Mode — *The same descriptive alt text works as a search query. Here it surfaces accurate results in Google’s AI Mode.*

Why this matters in today’s market

Alt text has always done two jobs. It lets screen readers describe images to readers who have low vision. It also gives search engines the context to understand what an image shows. Neither job has ever been optional. However, two things now make getting it right a bigger advantage than it used to be.

Search itself is leaning more on image context
Image search and AI-driven discovery are both growing. Alt text is one of the clearest signals you control for helping search engines and AI systems understand what’s in an image.

Accessibility regulation is tightening
If you sell to or serve customers in the EU or UK, alt text is increasingly part of what regulators expect. It’s not just good practice anymore. These rules reach further than most people expect: e-commerce, banking, e-books, and more, across both regions and beyond*.

This matters most if you…

Sell to or serve customers in the EU, UK or other regulated region
Run an online store with a large or growing product catalog
Want your images to surface in image search, not just sit invisibly in a page
Want to get ahead of tightening accessibility regulation instead of reacting to it

Alt text at scale for online stores

Ecommerce catalogs make alt text harder to get right at scale. Hundreds or thousands of product images, often uploaded in a hurry, often with generic or missing descriptions.

Too thin:alt="product1234.jpg" or alt="shoe" tells a screen reader user almost nothing, and gives search engines nothing to index the image against
About right:alt="Men's brown leather lace-up boots, side view" describes what the product is, helps a shopper using a screen reader know what they’re looking at, and helps your product images surface for the right search
Add the product ID when you have one: include the full product name and the product ID (SKU). It’s easier to match the image to the exact item.
Decorative product-page elements, like a background texture or a section divider, don’t need descriptive alt text at all: alt="" is correct there, so you’re not adding noise for screen reader users trying to get to the product details

How to stay on top of alt text across your catalog

Step 1: Spot gaps as you go

Yoast assesses each product page as you edit it, so missing alt text gets flagged before you publish.

Step 2: See what’s missing in one place

The Image alt text tab in the Yoast bulk editor shows how many of your product images are missing alt text, without opening each product.

Step 3: Clear the backlog faster

Hundreds of images without alt text? With Yoast AI Generate for image alt text, you can clear the backlog without writing every description yourself, and review each suggestion before it saves.

Alt text across your store

The Yoast ecommerce content analysis Already checks product pages for missing alt text. It also covers other key product page elements, like GTIN, ISBN, SKUs, and short descriptions. Gaps get flagged as part of your normal content workflow.

Coming soon: AI-drafted alt text at scale We’re extending the Bulk Editor to draft alt text for your product images with AI. Find the gaps across your whole catalog, get a starting draft for each one, and review and approve before anything saves.

From flagged to fixed

Yoast AI Generate for image alt text

Yoast already shows you which product images are missing alt text. Now you can fix them: generate alt text from your product data and the photo itself, then review and apply what you’re happy with.

Grounded in the photo itself
Descriptions match what’s in the image, without generic filler or made-up details.

Nothing goes live until you say so
Preview every suggestion, then apply, edit or discard it.

Your existing alt text stays put
It only changes if you choose to replace it, after comparing both side by side.

Part of Yoast AI Generate. Explore Yoast AI Generate

What’s in each plan

	Yoast SEO	Yoast SEO Premium	Yoast WooCommerce SEO	Yoast SEO AI+	Yoast SEO for Shopify
Images: checks that your content includes images	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Images on product pages: recommends at least four product images	–	–	✓	✓	✓
Image alt attributes: flags product images without alt text	–	–	✓	✓	✓
Sharper product image assessments: Images and Image alt attributes count only the product’s own featured, gallery and variation images	–	–	✓	✓	–
Yoast AI Generate for image alt text	–	–	✓	✓	–

Yoast WooCommerce SEO

Fix what Yoast flags, across your catalog

Hundreds of images without alt text? Clear the backlog without writing every description yourself, right where you manage your products.

What you get with Yoast WooCommerce SEO:

Yoast AI Generate for image alt text, at no extra cost
AI titles and meta descriptions for products and categories
Bulk edit product metadata in the Bulk Editor
Everything in Yoast SEO Premium, included

Only $178.80 / year (ex VAT)Get Yoast WooCommerce SEO

Also included in Yoast SEO AI+.

Did you know?

Using Yoast SEO for Shopify?

You get the image alt text assessments in Yoast SEO for Shopify too. Yoast AI Generate for image alt text is part of Yoast WooCommerce SEO, so it isn’t available in Shopify.

Explore the Yoast SEO Academy →

FAQs

Is this feature free?

Yes, the image assessments are free in Yoast SEO. For product images, Yoast WooCommerce SEO and Yoast SEO for Shopify add the Image alt attributes assessment, and Yoast WooCommerce SEO adds Yoast AI image alt text.

Does alt text affect my rankings?

Not directly. It helps search engines and AI platforms understand your images and surface them in image search.

Do accessibility rules like this apply to my site?

Probably, if you sell to customers in the EU or UK. Rules vary by business size and sector, so confirm with a qualified adviser. Alt text alone doesn’t make a site compliant.

Will Yoast AI image alt text make things up?

You generate alt text from your product data and the image itself, and in our testing the suggestions rarely got details wrong. You review every one before it saves, so you have the final say.

Will Yoast AI image alt text overwrite my existing alt text?

No. You’ll see your current alt text and the suggestion side by side, and nothing changes unless you choose to replace it.

Can I generate alt text for every image?

You can generate alt text for PNG, JPEG, WEBP and non-animated GIF images. For other formats, such as AVIF or SVG, you can still write it yourself.

Does Yoast AI image alt text work in multiple languages?

Yes, the AI features support all languages. However, the performance may vary for less widely used languages.

*The regulatory summary above is a general overview, not legal advice. If you need to confirm exactly how these rules apply to your business, talk to someone qualified in your jurisdiction.