FreeToolsWorld

Image Alt Checker

Find images with missing or poor alt text in your HTML.

SEO Tools Free, no sign-up Runs in your browser

Read on your device. The images themselves are never requested, so nothing is downloaded.

0
Images
0
No alt attribute
0
Deliberately empty
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Worth rewriting
#ImageAlt textVerdict

About the Image Alt Checker

Image Alt Checker reads a page's HTML and lists every image with the state of its alt attribute: missing entirely, deliberately empty, present and reasonable, or present but unhelpful.

The distinction between missing and empty matters and is widely misunderstood. An image with no alt attribute at all is a fault: a screen reader falls back to reading the file name, which is noise. An image with alt="" is correct when the image is purely decorative, because it tells assistive software to skip it. Most checkers treat both as errors; this one does not, because that would be wrong.

Beyond presence, the tool looks at quality. Alt text that starts with 'image of' or 'picture of' wastes the listener's time, since screen readers already announce it as an image. Alt text that is a file name, that is hundreds of characters long, that is all capitals, or that repeats a keyword several times, is reported with the reason.

This is an accessibility tool as much as an SEO one, and the two pull in the same direction here: alt text that genuinely describes the image serves both.

This tool reads HTML you paste rather than fetching a live URL. A browser is not allowed to request another domain and read the response, so no page on any site can genuinely crawl yours without a server behind it. To get the HTML: open your page, press Ctrl+U or Cmd+Option+U for the source, select all and copy.

Nothing you paste leaves your browser. There is no upload, no log and no account, which makes it safe to analyse a staging site or an unpublished draft.

How to use the Image Alt Checker

  1. Paste your page's HTMLView source, select all, copy.
  2. Read the summaryHow many images, how many missing alt, how many flagged.
  3. Work through the tableEach image, its alt text and the specific problem.
  4. Fix and re-checkPaste the updated HTML to confirm.

Features

  • Separates missing alt from deliberately empty alt
  • Flags filler prefixes such as 'image of'
  • Flags file names used as alt text
  • Flags alt text that is too long to be read out
  • Flags repeated keywords, which reads as stuffing
  • Notes images inside links, where alt becomes the link's name
  • Summary counts plus a per-image table

Who uses this tool

The image alt checker is used by writers, developers, students, marketers and anyone else who needs the job done once without installing software. Common cases include:

  • Checking a page's accessibility before publishing
  • Auditing an image-heavy article
  • Finding images a CMS imported without alt text
  • Preparing an accessibility report
  • Reviewing a template for missing alt attributes

Frequently asked questions

Is alt="" an error?

No, when the image is decorative. An empty alt tells a screen reader to skip the image, which is correct for borders, spacers and purely ornamental pictures. A missing alt attribute is different and is a real fault.

How long should alt text be?

Long enough to convey what the image shows in context, usually under 125 characters. If it needs more, the information probably belongs in the surrounding text or a caption.

Why is 'image of' a problem?

Screen readers already announce that it is an image. Starting the description with 'image of' makes every image begin with the same redundant phrase.

Does alt text help SEO?

Yes, moderately. It helps image search understand the picture, and it becomes the link text when an image is the only content of a link. Stuffing it with keywords helps nothing and reads badly.

Can it check a live URL?

No. Browsers cannot fetch other domains, so you paste the HTML.

Is my HTML uploaded?

No. It is parsed in your browser.

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