7.3 Background images use unnecessary alt text (L)

Unnecessary alt text for background images on Intranet content page

FIGURE 7.4: Unnecessary alt text for background images on Intranet content page

Image highlighted in related articles section of news page

FIGURE 7.5: Image highlighted in related articles section of news page

7.3.1 WCAG 1.1.1 (A) - Desktop, Mobile, iPad

The background images on the Intranet content page are assigned an alt text ‘light blue’ which is unnecessary as this background image is purely decorative and do not convey important information.

A similar issue occurs on the News article page, this page includes a decorative image which is announced as ‘kilns2’ by the screen reader.

This issue relates to Decorative images are announced by screen readers (M)

7.3.2 Code Snippet

<img src="/~/media/staff-intranet/academic-registry/images/plain-light-blue-186x200.jpg?crop=1&amp;h=200&amp;w=186&amp;la=en" alt="Light blue">

7.3.3 Recommendation

As these images are purely decorative and do not convey information, apply a null alt text attribute: alt="".

For reference, if the image is conveying information that needs to be communicated to screen reader users, ensure that the alt text is concise and meaningful.