AI for Image Alt Text: Speed Up Accessibility Without Errors

Alt text describes an image for people who cannot see it, such as screen reader users, and for situations where an image fails to load. It also gives search engines context. Writing it for hundreds of existing images feels tedious, and AI can draft descriptions quickly. The drafts, though, need human review, because context decides whether a description is useful.

What good alt text does

• Describes what matters about the image in the context of the page.
• Is short and plain, usually a single sentence.
• Avoids starting with "image of" or "picture of".
• Includes text that appears in the image, if it is important.
• Is empty (alt="") for purely decorative images, so screen readers skip them.

For broader guidance, see image SEO best practices and accessible web design basics.

Where AI helps

AI image description tools can:

• Give a first-pass description of a photo.
• Process a batch of images from a media library.
• Suggest shorter or longer versions.
• Help non-designers who are unsure what to write.

Where AI falls short

• It does not know why the image is on the page.
• It may misidentify objects, people, locations or products.
• It can describe irrelevant details and miss the point.
• It may add guesses about emotions or identity.
• It can stuff keywords if you ask for SEO text.

A review process

1. Generate drafts in a spreadsheet with the image file name and page title.
2. Ask: what is this image doing here? A product shot, a chart, a team photo and a decorative divider each need different treatment.
3. Edit for context. A photo of a laptop on a "WordPress hosting" page might be described as "Laptop showing a website dashboard", not just "laptop".
4. Check accuracy. Correct product names, colours, numbers and text.
5. Handle charts and infographics. Give the main takeaway in alt text and the full detail in nearby text or a caption.
6. Mark decorative images with empty alt text.
7. Test with a screen reader on a few key pages if you can.

Examples

• Weak: "image of food".
• Better: "Plate of masala dosa with coconut chutney and sambar."
• Weak, keyword stuffed: "best dosa Bangalore restaurant cheap dosa".
• Product page: "Blue cotton kurta with white block print, front view."

Hypothetical example

A small online store has 300 product photos with blank alt text. The owner exports file names and product titles, asks AI for a draft per image and reviews them in a sheet. She fixes colour mistakes on about one in ten and rewrites duplicated descriptions so each variant is distinct. Then she imports the sheet back through her platform's bulk editing tool. Plan for the process taking longer than the generation step.

Keep it up

Add alt text to your publishing checklist so new images are covered from the start. Include a line in your content approval workflow.