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accessible AI image descriptions: describe the selected image according to its role

Accessible AI image descriptions should describe the selected image in its actual context. The generation prompt is not a reliable description: it states what was requested, which may differ from what the output contains. Review the final derivative and the surrounding page before writing a text alternative.

Genace provides image outputs, not an accessibility judgment for your application. Role classification, alternative text, captions, longer explanations, and implementation testing remain responsibilities of your publishing workflow.

Decide what the image does

Use W3C’s alternative-text decision tree to distinguish informative, decorative, and functional uses. The same source image can need different treatment in different placements because its relationship to nearby content changes.

For a product detail view, a description may help distinguish a useful visible feature. For a decorative background beside complete copy, repeating the scene can add noise. For an image that is the only content of a link, the destination or action may be the relevant meaning.

For example, an intentionally decorative image still has an empty alt attribute rather than an omitted attribute. An image-only link names its action:

<img src="/art/decoration.webp" alt="">
<a href="/catalog"><img src="/art/catalog.webp" alt="Browse the catalog"></a>

These are illustrative application asset paths, not Genace-hosted files. Do not add the same link text twice if visible text already supplies its name.

Build a context review table

ContextDescription questionCommon mistake
Informative illustrationWhat meaning does it add here?Listing every decorative detail
Product viewWhat useful visible feature differs?Inventing materials or capabilities
Decorative artworkIs the adjacent text already complete?Repeating redundant content
Image linkWhat does activation do?Describing colors instead of purpose
Complex explanationWhere is the complete text equivalent?Compressing everything into one short phrase

These are editorial decisions. Do not assume the image’s synthetic origin determines whether it is decorative or informative.

Write from observable content

Inspect the delivered crop. Describe meaningful visible information without inventing a factual identity or backstory. If a synthetic scene illustrates a concept, avoid wording that presents it as a photograph of a real event or customer.

Keep important instructional content in the document text. A complex diagram may need a nearby structured explanation, not merely a long alternative attribute. The reader should be able to obtain the essential meaning without decoding tiny raster labels.

Avoid using SEO phrases as a substitute for useful description. Repeating the page title or stuffing model names into every alternative does not explain what the image contributes.

Review the implemented component

Check how the image is used in HTML, including links and nearby captions. Verify the final alternative value, not just the text saved in the asset library. A component can accidentally override or omit a reviewed description.

For multilingual pages, review descriptions in the same locale as the surrounding content. A translated headline does not automatically supply an appropriate image description.

If the crop or composition changes, revisit the description. A derivative that removes the detail named in the text creates a mismatch even if both files came from the same source.

Acceptance checklist

Identify the image’s role, inspect the exact derivative, write only useful meaning, and review the assembled page with assistive reading in mind. Confirm that decorative treatment is intentional, functional images communicate their action, and complex information has an adequate text equivalent.

Read documentation illustrations, blog hero workflows, and responsive derivatives.

Continue with media delivery

Where these facts come from