Weak alt text
Images should have written descriptions that convey what they show. Silktide reports images whose descriptions exist but appear to be of no real value, such as a filename or the word "image".
is meant to stand in for the image. Text like a filename, a URL, or a generic word describes nothing:
<!-- Weak: a filename tells the listener nothing -->
<img src="chart.png" alt="chart-final-v2.png">
<!-- Descriptive: conveys what the image shows -->
<img src="chart.png" alt="Bar chart showing sales doubling between 2024 and 2026">
Why this matters
People using hear alt text in place of the image. "IMG underscore 4 3 2 7 dot J P G" read aloud is worse than silence: it interrupts the content without conveying anything. Weak alt text usually means a CMS auto-filled the field from the filename, so the image passes a naïve "has alt text" test while still failing the person it was for.
Search engines also read alt text to understand images, so weak text wastes a chance to have your images found in search.
How to fix it
- Rewrite the alt text to describe what the image shows or what it is for, in a natural phrase or sentence. Imagine describing the page to someone over the phone.
- For images that are links or buttons, describe the destination or action ("Search", "View your cart") rather than the picture.
- For purely , use an empty
alt=""so screen readers skip them entirely. - Fix the source of the problem too: many CMSs auto-fill alt text from filenames when images are uploaded. Enter real descriptions in your media library.
- If flagged alt text is genuinely appropriate, the finding.
How Silktide tests this
- Find every image on the page that has non-empty alt text. Images with missing or empty alt text are reported by separate checks, such as Missing alt text.
- Skip images that do not need description: images hidden from screen readers, tracking pixels and other 1-pixel images, and images with no source.
- Flag alt text that appears uninformative:
- It looks like a filename (such as
photo.jpg). - It is a URL.
- It does not look like human-readable words (such as
img_4327_final-2). - It is a known generic word or phrase, such as "image", "picture", "logo", or "click here".
- It contains no letters or numbers at all.
- It looks like a filename (such as
Troubleshooting
My product code or brand name is flagged
Alt text that is a single code-like token can look machine-generated to this check. If the text is genuinely the right description (for example a product SKU your customers know), approve the finding - or better, expand it into a phrase: "Product photo of the ZX-200 drill".
Images from embedded maps are flagged
Map tiles from embedded map services are generated by the provider, and you cannot edit their alt text. Silktide can exclude third-party images like these from checking; if you see them flagged, approve them or ask us about excluding third-party issues for your website.