Improve WordPress Image Accessibility with Alt Text

Good accessibility starts with small details. One of the most important? Alt text. Without it, your WordPress site may not be accessible to everyone—and that can affect both your user experience and your SEO performance.

This guide will show you how to improve WordPress image accessibility using dynamic alt text. You’ll also learn how to automate the process using the Image Alt Text Manager plugin by WPSaad. Whether you’re aiming to meet WCAG image alt compliance or just want to improve the structure of your content, this solution is simple, scalable, and highly effective.

What Is WordPress Image Accessibility?

Image accessibility ensures that all users—including those using screen readers—can understand your content. In WordPress, this means using proper alt attributes for all meaningful images. Without these tags, screen readers cannot describe images, which leads to a poor experience for visually impaired users.

In fact, missing alt text is one of the most common reasons websites fail accessibility audits. Fortunately, this is something you can fix quickly and consistently.

Why Alt Text Matters for SEO and Compliance

Alt text is not only helpful for users—it’s also valuable for search engines. Google uses it to understand what an image represents. When done well, it can improve how your images appear in search results.

More importantly, WCAG 2.1 guidelines require that all non-decorative images have descriptive alt attributes. If you’re not following these standards, your website may not be legally compliant.

Because of this, alt text is essential for both accessibility and search engine visibility.

Why Manual Methods Are Not Enough

While WordPress allows you to enter alt text manually, it does not offer tools to manage or update it at scale. Over time, this leads to issues like:

• Inconsistent alt attribute usage
• Missing alt tags on older posts or bulk-uploaded images
• Time-consuming manual edits

As your website grows, these problems only get worse. That’s where automation becomes key.

Use Dynamic Alt Text in WordPress

With dynamic alt text, you don’t have to write descriptions for each image. Instead, the system pulls content from your post or image fields using preset tags.

Let’s take an example. If you use the following tag template:

CopyEdit{{post_title}} – {{site_title}} 

Then, for a blog post titled “10 Tips for Faster WordPress Sites” on a website called “DevMasters,” the plugin will generate:

rustCopyEdit10 Tips for Faster WordPress Sites – DevMasters 

This way, your images will always have structured, descriptive, and SEO-friendly alt text—no manual entry required.

How the Image Alt Text Manager Plugin Works

The Image Alt Text Manager by WPSaad automates this entire process. It allows you to set up alt and title templates using dropdown-selected tags. You do not need to type any freeform text.

Once configured, it automatically applies these settings across:

• Posts and Pages
• Inline content images
• Featured images
• Media Library items
• (Pro) Custom Post Types

With just a few clicks, your entire site can be updated to follow WordPress image accessibility best practices.

Available Tags for Alt and Title Templates

Here are the dynamic tags supported:

• {{site_title}} – Website name
• {{site_description}} – Tagline or description
• {{post_title}} – Blog or page title
• {{page_title}} – Title for static pages
• {{image_name}} – Filename
• {{image_alt}} – Existing alt value
• {{image_caption}} – Image caption
• {{image_description}} – Description field in Media Library

By combining these tags, you can generate meaningful alt text tailored to each piece of content.

Step-by-Step Setup

Getting started is easy:

1. Install the plugin from WordPress.org.
2. Go to Alt Manager → Settings in your dashboard.
3. Choose which post types to target.
4. Use the dropdowns to select tags for alt and title text.
5. Save your settings. The plugin will apply your rules immediately.

There’s no need for extra tools or developer assistance. Everything happens inside your WordPress dashboard.

Free vs. Pro: What’s the Difference?

The free version is perfect for bloggers, freelancers, and content creators. The Pro version is ideal for agencies, WooCommerce stores, and custom-built websites with CPTs.

Why This Improves WordPress Image Accessibility

This plugin ensures that no image is left without a proper alt attribute. It also helps:

• Avoid common accessibility errors
• Maintain consistency across your site
• Improve readability for screen readers
• Comply with WCAG 2.1 automatically

Because the solution uses structured, existing data, your alt text remains accurate and aligned with the page content.

Conclusion: Build a More Accessible WordPress Site with Less Effort

Improving WordPress image accessibility doesn’t have to be complicated. The Image Alt Text Manager plugin by WPSaad gives you everything you need to automate this important task. With dynamic tags, smart templates, and full coverage across your content, your site becomes more inclusive—and more SEO-friendly.

This is how you build a better web experience for everyone.

Try it now:
🔹 Get the free plugin
🔹 Upgrade to Pro for CPT and WooCommerce support