- Success Criterion 1.1.1
- Conformance level A
Image Alt Text That Repeats a Caption Word for Word
1.1.1 — Non-text Content
Scenario
Setting
A ticket marketplace's seat-selection map
What’s wrong
Redundant alt duplicating adjacent caption/link text, creating double announcements (fails the "equivalent purpose" intent and creates noise. F-adjacent).
Example
<a href="/seats/section-a">
<img src="section-a-map.png" alt="Section A seating map">
<span>Section A seating map</span>
</a> Why it matters
A buyer scanning seat sections by screen reader hears each section name twice on every link, doubling the time it takes to compare sections.
How to test
Check for double announcements: if an image's alt repeats text already in an adjacent caption or link, a screen reader announces the same content twice — set alt="" instead.
How to fix
Give the image an empty alt when adjacent text already says the same thing. The link's name is then announced once, not twice.
<a href="/seats/section-a">
<img src="section-a-map.png" alt="">
<span>Section A seating map</span>
</a> Outcome
A buyer hears each section name exactly once and compares all options in a fraction of the time.
Who is affected
Screen reader users comparing several similar options in a list feel doubled announcements compound quickly.
Learn more
- Understanding Understanding document (opens in a new tab)
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