Writing alt text for product images

A text alternative — the alt attribute of an image — is what a screen reader says in place of the image, and what shows when the image does not load. In a shop, it is often the only way a blind customer learns what a product looks like. It is also one of the problems found most often on the web: images with no alternative at all.

Three questions before writing

1. Does the image carry information? If it only decorates — a background pattern, a divider, an ornament — it gets an empty alternative, alt="", and screen readers skip it (RGAA 1.2).
2. Does the text around it already say it? A photo next to a caption that describes it fully does not need to repeat the caption.
3. What would you say on the phone? Describe the image as you would to a customer calling the shop: what matters to someone deciding to buy (RGAA 1.3).

Examples for product photos

Text alternatives for product photos, weak and useful

Image	Weak alternative	Useful alternative
Main photo of a dress	IMG_4021.jpg	Blue linen dress, short sleeves, knee length
Detail of the fabric	image	Close-up of the linen weave, slightly irregular
The dress worn	dress	The dress worn with white sneakers, from the side
Size chart as an image	size chart	Put the chart in an HTML table instead; the image can then be decorative
Logo linking to the home page	logo	Home — Atelier Lina (the link's destination, not the drawing)

Common traps

• The file name. WordPress does not fill the alternative from the file name, but themes and imports sometimes do. A screen reader reading "IMG underscore 4021 dot jpg" helps nobody.
• "Image of…" Screen readers already announce that it is an image. Start with what it shows.
• Too long. Keep it to a sentence. Details such as dimensions or composition belong in the product description, where everyone can read them.
• The same alternative everywhere. Five photos of the same product all labelled with the product name tell the customer nothing about what each one shows.
• Text in the image. If a banner says "−20% this weekend", the alternative must say it too.

Where AI helps, and where it does not

For a catalogue with hundreds of photos, writing every alternative by hand is long. An AI model that sees the image can draft a description in the right language in a few seconds, and it is usually good at colours, shapes and materials.

It does not know what matters to your customers, the product's exact name or why this photo is on this page. That is why a person should read every suggestion before saving it. Relyo Pro works that way: it suggests the alternative on the fix screen, in the page's language, and nothing is saved until you confirm.