Image buttons must have alternate text
Rule Description
Ensures <input type="image">
elements have alternate text.
Why it Matters
An <input type="image">
button must have alternate text, otherwise screen reader users will not know the button’s purpose. Even if the image contains only text, it still requires alternate text, since a screen reader cannot translate images of words into output.
Text Alone Is Not A Label: Just typing text next to the form element is not sufficient to create a true label. Assistive technologies like screen readers require labels in code that can be determined programmatically. Some screen readers are programmed to guess what the label should be, based on the surrounding text, but this method is not fool-proof and can lead to confusion if the screen reader guesses wrong.
How to Fix the Problem
Check that the <input type="image">
has a non-empty alt
, aria-label
or aria-labelledby
attribute.
Image buttons use the alt
attribute as the label. The alt
attribute value must be provided, and it must be clear and concise and representative of the action performed when the button is activated by the user (not a description of the image itself).
Check that all images used as buttons have accessible alternate text.
How to add alt text to an image
- Using an
alt
attribute i.e.<input type="image" alt="submit button">
- Using an
aria-label
i.e.<input type="image" aria-label="submit button">
- Using an
aria-labelledby
attribute i.e.<input type="image" aria-labelledby="someElementID">
If you are using an alt
attribute or an aria-label
, ensure it is not empty. If you are using an aria-labelledby
attribute, ensure that the ID to which it points exists and is accessible to a screen reader (i.e. is not hidden using CSS with display: none
or aria-hidden="true"
).
Tips on writing alt text
When writing the alt
text, keep in mind that the purpose of the alt
text is to relay information to blind users about the image’s contents and purpose – blind users should be able to get as much information from alt
text as a sighted user gets from the image itself. alt
text should give the intent, purpose, and meaning of the image.
When writing alt
text, it is helpful to keep the following questions in mind:
- Why is the non-text content here?
- What information is it presenting?
- What purpose does it fulfill?
- If I could not use the non-text content, what words would I use to convey the same information or function?
Be sure that all text contained in the alt
attribute is useful. Words like “chart,” “image,” “diagram,” or image file names tend not to be very useful and thus should not be used in alt
text.
The Algorithm (in simple terms)
Ensures that every <input type="image">
has an accessible name.