Images of text

Silktide asks you to confirm that any pictures containing words on your pages are purely decorative, or that showing the words as a picture is truly essential. Wherever words carry information, they should be real text rather than an image of text.

Why this matters

Words baked into an image cannot adapt to the reader. They blur when magnified, ignore user-chosen fonts and colours, don't reflow on small screens, and can't be translated. This is the strictest version of the rule: while the widely required level AA criterion allows images of text in some cases, this WCAG level AAA criterion (1.4.9) allows them only for decoration or where the exact visual form is essential, such as a logo.

How to fix it

This check is a prompt to review each page:

1. Look for images containing words: banners, buttons, headings, charts, and promotional graphics exported from design tools.
2. Replace them with real text styled using CSS - modern web fonts and styling can reproduce almost any design.
3. Keep an image of text only when it is purely decorative, or when the specific rendering is essential - logos and brand wordmarks are the classic examples.
4. Once you are satisfied the page is fine, approve the finding.

How Silktide tests this

1. Every page is flagged for manual review. Reliably telling whether an image contains words, and whether that presentation is essential, requires human judgment.

Troubleshooting

How this differs from the similar AA check

Text information covers the level AA criterion (1.4.5), which permits images of text when they are customisable or essential. This check covers the stricter AAA criterion (1.4.9), which permits them only for decoration or where essential. If you are targeting level AA, prioritise that check.

Learn more

• Understanding Success Criterion 1.4.9: Images of Text (No Exception) (WCAG 2.1)
• Text information