WCAG Alt Text Checker for Screen Readers

Free AI alt text written for screen-reader users, not search engines. Upload a photo and get a WCAG-oriented description with the specific details a blind user needs. No signup.

Drag and drop, upload, or take a photo

JPG, PNG, WebP, AVIF, and HEIC. HEIC is decoded on your device.

What makes alt text actually accessible

Good screen-reader alt text isn't a caption. It answers one question: what does a person who can't see this image need to know to understand the page? That means naming the people and the action, reading out any text the image shows, and skipping details that don't change what the image is communicating.

This tool writes to that standard by default. Upload a photo, keep Accessibility mode selected, and it returns alt text built around context, not keyword density. Unlike SEO alt text, it isn't capped at 125 characters. An image that needs three sentences to make sense to a screen-reader user gets three sentences.

How to get a better result

Upload the actual image your page will use, not a placeholder or a cropped preview. If the image includes text (a screenshot, a sign, a product label), the tool reads it and includes it. If the image is functional, a button icon, a linked thumbnail, describe what happens when a user activates it, not just what the icon looks like.

What this page does not do

It doesn't certify WCAG conformance, and it isn't a substitute for a human accessibility review before you publish. For a quick check on whether an image should have empty alt text at all, use Decorative check mode on the main Alt Text Generator. For keyword-focused alt text instead of accessibility framing, use SEO mode on the same page.

How to Use

  1. 1Upload the image you need alt text for
  2. 2Pick SEO, accessibility, social, or decorative mode
  3. 3Generate alt text with AI
  4. 4Copy the format you need (plain, HTML, or Markdown)

When to Use Each Mode

SEO

Blog heroes and product thumbnails that should rank for visual queries

Accessibility

Any informative image that screen-reader users need described

Social

Captions for Instagram, LinkedIn, or X when auto-captions are weak

Frequently Asked Questions

What makes this alt text WCAG-oriented instead of just descriptive?

It's written for what a blind or low-vision user needs to understand the image in context: the people, the action, any text shown in the image, and the details that matter. A generic caption describes pixels. WCAG-oriented alt text describes meaning.

How is this different from SEO alt text?

SEO mode targets keywords and stays under 125 characters. Accessibility mode drops the character limit when the image needs more context, and it never adds keywords the image doesn't actually show.

Does this replace a manual accessibility audit?

No. Treat it as a fast first draft, not a WCAG conformance certification. Review the output before you publish, especially for images that trigger an action (buttons, links) or carry information a caption alone won't cover.

When should alt text be empty instead of written?

Purely decorative images (borders, spacers, background flourishes) should use alt="" so screen readers skip them. Use Decorative check mode on the main Alt Text Generator to test a specific image.

Does it handle screenshots and images with text in them?

Yes. The prompt explicitly asks for any text shown in the image, so a screenshot of a form or a photo of a sign gets that text included, not just a description of the layout.