- Success Criterion 1.4.5
- Conformance level AA
Image-of-Text Used With No Way for Users to Customize It
1.4.5 — Images of Text
Scenario
Setting
A bank's mobile money-transfer screen
What’s wrong
Customization defense misused: no mechanism actually exists for users to adapt the imaged text.
Example
<img src="sale-banner.png" alt="50% off everything">Why it matters
Low-vision users who need scalable text, and people who customize fonts or colors.
How to test
Check whether any customization mechanism actually exists (font/color/spacing controls) for imaged text relying on the 'customizable' exception: if none exists, the exception doesn't apply and it fails.
How to fix
Real text must be used instead of an image of text (except logos or where the exact rendering is essential).
<div class="banner"><p>50% off everything</p></div>Real text can be resized, recolored, and read aloud accurately — an image of text can't.
Outcome
On a bank's mobile money-transfer screen, this barrier is gone for low-vision users who need scalable text — they get the same result as anyone else here.
Who is affected
Low-vision users who need scalable text, and people who customize fonts or colors.
Learn more
- Understanding Understanding document (opens in a new tab)
Related scenarios
- Text-Heavy Content Rendered as an Image Instead of Real Text
- Page Heading or Banner Exported as an Image File
- Button or Navigation Label Rendered as an Image
- Marketing Text Baked Directly Into a Composite Image
- Restaurant Menu or Price List Uploaded as a Photo
- Screenshot of Text Used as the Page’s Primary Content