Score the Alt Text of Every Image on Your Page
Enter any public URL and get a scored, grouped report of every image's alt text. Check one page or a whole site, against a published rubric, with no account required.
Checking image alt text...
A whole-site check can take a little longer
Could not complete the check
What We Check
Every image element on the page, classified as missing, empty, generic, a filename, too short, duplicate, too long, or good.
Why It Matters
Missing alt text breaks screen-reader users and weakens image-search eligibility. It is one of the few on-page issues a marketer can fix without engineering help.
How It Scores
Each image gets a fixed point value from a published rubric. The page score is the average across all scored images, decorative images excluded.
What is an alt text checker?
An alt text checker reads the alt attribute of every image on a page and reports what it finds. Alt text is the text a screen reader announces in place of an image, and the text a browser shows if the image fails to load. It is also a signal search engines use for image search.
This tool goes beyond a simple presence check. Each image is classified against a published rubric, so you get a score and a clear list of what to fix, rather than a pass or fail.
How the alt text score works
Every image is classified into one of the classes below and assigned a fixed point value. The page score is the simple average across all scored images, rounded to the nearest integer. Images marked decorative are excluded from the average.
| Class | Rule | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Missing alt attribute | The img tag has no alt attribute at all. | 0 |
| Empty alt (no role) | alt="" without role="presentation" or role="none". | 10 |
| Generic / stopword alt | Alt text is a filler word such as image, photo, logo or icon. | 20 |
| Filename used as alt | Alt text is the raw image filename. | 25 |
| Too short | Fewer than 8 characters. | 40 |
| Duplicate alt | The same alt string is reused on more than one image on the page. | 60 |
| Too long | More than 125 characters. | 70 |
| Good alt text | 8 to 125 characters, specific and non-redundant. Scores 100 without an "image of" style prefix. | 95 |
The 8 to 125 character bounds reflect screen-reader practicality: roughly 5 to 15 words. The score is a quality signal based on measurable properties. It is not a WCAG conformance certificate and cannot verify whether a description is semantically correct for the image.
Common alt text problems this tool catches
Missing alt attributes
An image with no alt attribute is announced by screen readers as the filename or skipped entirely, and search engines have nothing to index.
Filenames and placeholders as alt
Values like "hero-2.jpg" or "image" describe nothing. They are common when images are uploaded without alt text and the CMS fills in a default.
Duplicated alt text
The same description reused across several images tells a screen-reader user that the images are identical when they are not.
Over-long descriptions
Alt text past 125 characters is read in full by screen readers and rarely adds value past the first sentence.
Frequently asked questions
What does the alt text checker score?
It reads the alt attribute of every image on a page and classifies each one as missing, empty, generic, a filename, too short, duplicate, too long, or good. Each class carries a fixed point value, and the page score is the average across all scored images.
Is the score a WCAG accessibility certification?
No. The score is a quality signal based on measurable alt text properties. It cannot verify whether a description is semantically correct for the image. A high score is not a WCAG conformance certificate.
How many pages can I check?
A single-page check covers one URL. A whole-site check covers up to 1000 pages discovered from your sitemap, always including the homepage. For regular monitoring and alerting beyond that limit, sign up at redCacti.
Do decorative images count against my score?
No. Images with an empty alt and role="presentation", role="none", or aria-hidden="true" are treated as decorative and excluded from the average.
Related reading
Want ongoing alt text monitoring?
This free tool checks up to 1000 pages per run. Sign up at redCacti for regular monitoring and alerting, full-site coverage, and change tracking as your content grows.