Informative vs Decorative: The First Decision

Before you write a single word of alt text, ask one thing: does this image add meaning, or is it just there to look nice?

Every image falls into one of two buckets: informative images that carry content, or decorative ones that are pure visual polish.

An informative image tells the user something they would miss without it, like a chart, a product photo, or a logo with the company name.

A decorative image adds no information. Think background swooshes, spacer lines, or a stock photo that just sets a mood.

Getting this right matters because the wrong call either hides real content or floods screen reader users with useless noise.

If an image is informative, give it real alt text that conveys what it means in context.

If an image is decorative, give it an empty alt so screen readers skip right past it.

The very same photo can be informative on one page and decorative on another. Context decides, not the file itself.

Try this: if you removed the image, would the page lose meaning? Yes means informative. No means decorative.

Skipping the alt attribute entirely is the worst choice: many screen readers then read out the file name instead.

So your workflow starts here: classify each image as informative or decorative before you worry about wording.

Time to test the core decision.

Nice work! Every image is informative or decorative, context decides, and that one call shapes whether you write alt text or leave it empty.