Images & icons
An Image's Alt Text Repeats the Words Right Beside It
When an image's alt text repeats nearby text, screen reader users hear the same words twice, which wastes time and makes the page harder to follow.
image-redundant-altBest practiceBest practice — not a WCAG requirement, but it helps people all the same.
- Status
- MinorMinor — Cosmetic, or best practice.CurrentScanners run this rule today.
- Owner
- DesignDevContentTest
- Audit
- Automated+ManualA scanner finds it; a person confirms the fix.
Why it matters
Alt text is the description a screen reader reads out for an image. If the link or button next to the image already says the same thing, people hear it twice.
On a page full of product cards or icon links, the repeats add up. Listening takes longer, and people start to wonder if they've missed something.
Who it affects
| Who | What they experience | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Screen reader users | They hear each label twice, like "Shopping cart, Shopping cart, link". | Partial impact |
| Low-vision users (magnification) | Affected only if they also use a screen reader. | Partial impact |
| Cognitive and neurodivergent users | If they use text-to-speech, the doubled words can be confusing and tiring. | Partial impact |
Business & product impact
| Area | Why | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Legal | This is a best practice, not a WCAG 2.2 Level AA failure. It won't usually drive a Disability Discrimination Act complaint. | Low impact |
| Conversion | Repeats on product grids slow screen reader shoppers down. A smoother list helps them reach checkout. | Low impact |
| SEO | Search engines don't reward or punish this. Don't sell it as an SEO fix. | Low impact |
| Brand trust | It signals care, or the lack of it, to people who listen to your site. | Moderate impact |
| Cost to fix | Very cheap. Often one change in a shared card or icon component fixes every page. | High impact |
Fixing it in code
An icon beside a link label
Don't
<a href="/cart"><img src="cart.svg" alt="Shopping cart"> Shopping cart</a>A screen reader says: “Shopping cart, Shopping cart, link”
Do
<a href="/cart"><img src="cart.svg" alt=""> Shopping cart</a>A screen reader says: “Shopping cart, link”
Empty alt tells the screen reader to skip the image, since the text already says it.
A product photo above its name
Don't
<img src="mug.jpg" alt="Blue ceramic mug">
<h3>Blue ceramic mug</h3>A screen reader says: “Blue ceramic mug, image. Heading level 3, Blue ceramic mug”
Do
<img src="mug.jpg" alt="Mug with a speckled glaze and a wide handle">
<h3>Blue ceramic mug</h3>A screen reader says: “Mug with a speckled glaze and a wide handle, image. Heading level 3, Blue ceramic mug”
The alt text now adds detail the heading doesn't give.
Designer's handoff note
When an icon sits next to a text label, mark the icon as decorative in your handover notes.
If a photo shows something the text doesn't say, note what that is so content writers can describe it.
Quick test
Tool
NVDA (opens in a new tab) (free on Windows)
Checklist
- Pass
- Each label is read once, like "Shopping cart, link".
- Fail
- You hear the same words twice, like "Shopping cart, Shopping cart, link".
Check these at the same time
- A button has no name a screen reader can say
button-name - An image has no text alternative
image-alt - A link has no text a screen reader can read
link-name
What a green scan still misses
A scanner only catches exact matches. It can't tell if alt text says nearly the same thing in other words, or if it adds anything useful.
Reference
- Rule ID
image-redundant-alt- Raised by
- axe-core: “Alternative text of images should not be repeated as text”
- WCAG
- Best practice — not a WCAG requirement
- Last reviewed
- 14 October 2026