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Enhanced Alt Text Management for Improved Accessibility #66491
Description
What problem does this address?
The current implementation of the Gutenberg editor allows users to add images without requiring alt text, leading to potential accessibility issues. Leaving the alt text field blank for images that should have descriptions can result in a poor experience for users relying on screen readers.
What is your proposed solution?
Enhance the Alt Text in the block settings sidebar to be similar to Mozilla's approach (as shown in the image below) by incorporating the following features:
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Radio Button 1: Set an Alternative Text
- Text Field: A text field for entering custom alt text. If this field is left blank, a warning message should appear beneath the field, indicating that alt text is required for accessibility.
- Visual Indicator: Include a red asterisk (*) next to the label "Set an Alternative Text" to denote that this field is mandatory.
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Radio Button 2: Mark as Decorative
- Allows users to designate the image as decorative, which either sets a block attribute
isDecorativeto true or setsrole="presentation"next toalt=""to mark the image as decorative.
- Allows users to designate the image as decorative, which either sets a block attribute
By implementing a warning for blank alt text, this solution ensures that users are reminded to provide appropriate descriptions, thereby improving accessibility and compliance with best practices.
Activity
Mamaduka commentedon Oct 26, 2024
Warnings for empty alt text was proposed in #16909.
himanshupathak95 commentedon May 12, 2025
I was looking into this issue, and given its significance for a11y, I'm keen to move this forward if there's a consensus on the direction.
From the discussion in #16909, my understanding is that moving the alt text input inline rather than keeping it confined to the sidebar was discussed. The approach proposed here suggests enhancing the Block Settings sidebar to allow input if the image is decorative and needs an alt text.
I’d be willing to pick this one up if this is something we consider improving in the coming releases.
jhmonroe commentedon Aug 28, 2025
FYI just opened a related issue "Alt Text Metadata is not imported but Description is": #71395
t-hamano commentedon May 26, 2026
Since issue #78064 has been merged, I think we can close this issue.