Accessibility: Preparing Your Images and Galleries
Visitors who have visual impairments may use assistive technology such as screen readers to browse your site. Add descriptions to images and galleries using alt text to make them accessible to these visitors.Alt text provides information about site media, and helps search engines and screen readers "read" them.In this article, learn more about:
Adding alt text in your editor Adding alt text in the Accessibility Wizard Marking images as decorative Text in images Images of textWhere does Wix get its information?
We make recommendations as per the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) document, which has been developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).  This article is based on the following success criteria:
    
Non-text Content (1.1.1) Images of Text (1.4.5)  Adding alt text in your editorAlt text ensures that visitors using screen readers can access and understand the content on your site, so we recommend adding it to all relevant images, including media appearing in apps such as Wix Stores, Wix Bookings, etc.  To single imagesAdd alt text to images in your site builder (Wix Editor and Studio Editor) from the Settings panel. Wix EditorStudio Editor
Go to your editor. Click the image on your page. Click the Settings icon . Enter a description of the image under What's in the image?. Press Enter on your keyboard to save.
Go to your editor. Click the relevant image. Click the Settings icon . Write a short description for your image under What's in the image?. Press Enter on your keyboard to save.To galleriesUse your site's Media Manager to add alternative text to gallery images.Wix EditorStudio Editor
Go to your editor. Click the gallery on your page. Click Manage Media or Change Images. Click an image to select it. Enter a title for the image on the right. (For Wix Pro Gallery) Edit the alt text for your image under Alt Text if you want it to be different from your image's title. Click Done.
Go to your editor. Click the relevant gallery. Click Manage Media. Select the relevant image. Enter a title for the image in the field. Edit the alt text for your image under Alt Text if you want it to be different from your image's title. Click Done.Tip:Make sure to publish the site so the alt text is live.Note:It is not currently possible to add alt text to images / galleries in bulk. If you would like to see this feature, you can vote for it here.Adding alt text in the Accessibility WizardYou may be prompted to add alt text to images when you scan a site with the Accessibility Wizard. Use the following steps to add descriptions in your site builder.Wix EditorStudio EditorUse the Wizard to add alt text site images and images that appear in your Wix Stores and Bookings apps.To add alt text to site images:
Go to your editor. Click Settings at the top and select Accessibility Wizard.  Click Scan My Site in the Accessibility Wizard panel on the right.  Select cards titled Alt text. Enter the image description into the What's in the image? field. Click Set Alt Text.To add alt text to app images:
Go to your editor. Click Settings at the top and select Accessibility Wizard.  Click Scan My Site in the Accessibility Wizard panel on the right.  Select the Stores / Bookings drop-down. Select cards titled Alt text. (For stores only) Select each product image / product variant image. Enter the image description into the What's in the image? field. Click Set Alt Text. Click Done.
Go to your editor. Click Site Checker  on the left side of your editor. Select Fix Accessibility Issues.  Click Scan Site. Select the Detected issues tab. Open the relevant page drop-down. Click Add alt text to images. Click Add alt text beside the image. Enter the text description into the field. Click Apply.You should know:Currently, the Accessibility Wizard in the Studio Editor does not detect alt text issues in Pro Gallery images, or images in apps (e.g. Wix Stores).Marking images as decorativeDecorative images are images that do not contribute to the content of the site, as they are there for aesthetic or decorative purposes only.If an image on a site is decorative and is not relevant to the context, it is not necessary to add alt text. You can mark an image as 'decorative' in the Accessibility Wizard to ensure that search engines and screen readers automatically skip it.Wix EditorStudio Editor
Go to your editor. Click Settings at the top and select Accessibility Wizard.  Click Scan My Site in the Accessibility Wizard panel on the right.  Select cards titled Alt text. Select the checkbox next to This image is decorative, it doesn't need a description.
Go to your editor. Click Site Checker  on the left side of your editor. Select Fix Accessibility Issues.  Click Scan Site. Select the Detected issues tab. Open the relevant page drop-down. Click Add alt text to images. Click Add alt text beside the image. Select the checkbox next to This image is decorative, it doesn't need alt text.Good to know:You should add alt text to any images that contain links, and not mark them as decorative.Text in imagesThis refers to images that contain pictured or added text. Text in images cannot be "read" by search engines or screen readers. However, if the image is necessary, and the text has context to the site, you can add it to the image description.If the text does not have context or doesn't contribute to the content of the site, you do not need to add it to the image description.Select an option below to learn more about image text you should and shouldn't add to the image description.Important textRelevant text is text in images that are important to the context of the site, and contribute to the content.For example, the image below may be present on a news site detailing the events of a protest. The text in the image has relevance to the site's context, so it should be added to the image's description.It may read: A group of people at a protest. One of the protestors is holding up a sign that says "No!"  Unimportant textExamples of text in images that may not be relevant include watermarks, or text that is added or pictured for decorative purposes.For example, the image below may be displayed on a blog post about a cathedral. The text on the signs are not relevant to the context of the post, so they do not need to be included in the alt text.The image description might read: A street signpost in front of a cathedral. The signpost is covered in flowers.
Images of textImages of text contain only text, and no other pictured elements. Some examples of this include pictures of fonts, or logos that contain text only.As they are not "real" text elements, images of text cannot be read by search engines or screenreaders. We recommend avoiding them where possible, and replacing them with real text elements to improve SEO and accessibility on your site. Next step:Go back to the Accessibility Checklist to continue improving your site for accessibility.