Who this affects
An image used as a submit button has no alt text, so users cannot tell what the button does.
How to fix it
Add alt describing the action, e.g. alt="Search".
Effort Low · ~5 min
Before and after
Fails
<input type="image" src="/img/go.png">Passes
<input type="image" src="/img/go.png" alt="Search">Where this sits in the standard
| WCAG success criterion | Level | EN 301 549 clause |
|---|---|---|
| 1.1.1 Non-text Content | A | 301-549, 9.1.1.1, 9.4.1.2 |
| 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value | A | — |
EN 301 549 clause 9 applies these criteria to web content. The published version referenced by the European Accessibility Act is V3.2.1, which incorporates WCAG 2.1 level A and AA. More on the standard.
How to check it by hand
Turn images off in the browser, or run the page through a screen reader and listen to the image announcements. If you hear a file name, a hash, or nothing where something meaningful should be, the alternative is missing. Ask of every image: if this were removed, what would the reader need told?
Automated testing settles roughly a third of the WCAG success criteria. This rule is one an automated tool detects reliably — but a clean automated result is not proof of conformance.
Reference
Deque's technical write-up for this rule: input-image-alt
See whether your site trips this rule
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