The Drupal Alt Text Module That Won’t Let a Missing Description Publish
A screen reader hits an image with no alt text and reads the filename: "IMG-4471.jpg." Alt Text Manager validates the alt field on every Media entity and image field, drafts a description your editor can accept or rewrite, and flags decorative images that should carry an empty alt instead of a forced one.
Your Media Library Has Thousands of Undescribed Images. Nobody Audited It.
Drupal core requires the alt field on standard image fields by default, which is a genuinely good baseline. But that check only fires on the content form: images added through migrations, feeds, the JSON:API, or programmatic saves can still land with no alt text, core never checks alt quality, and it never audits the images already in your library. A typical agency or district site we have scanned carries 15 to 20 percent of images with empty or placeholder alt text: "image," "photo1," or the filename. Every one of those is a WCAG 1.1.1 failure and a wall for a screen reader user trying to understand the page.
This module installs on any Drupal 10.6+ or Drupal 11 site with Composer, and pairs with WPPersona's WCAG 2.1 AA compliance approach. No CMS migration required.
18%
average share of images missing usable alt text on Drupal sites before an audit
What Alt Text Manager Actually Checks
Every feature below maps to a specific WCAG 2.1 success criterion, not a vague accessibility claim. Here's exactly what changes on your Drupal site.
Enforcement beyond the content form
Core already requires alt on image field widgets. This module adds an entity-level constraint that also catches images arriving through migrations, feeds, the JSON:API, and programmatic saves, the paths core’s widget validation does not cover, unless an editor deliberately marks the image decorative.
Alt text quality checks
Core only checks that alt text exists, not whether it is useful. The module flags placeholder, filename, and duplicated alt text ("image," "photo1," "IMG-4471.jpg") that technically passes core but tells a screen reader user nothing.
AI-drafted descriptions
For images with missing or low-quality alt text, the module drafts a candidate description an editor reviews and edits inside the Media form. Nothing publishes on an unreviewed AI guess.
Full Media library audit
Core never audits the images already on your site. A Views-based report covers every image across the Media library and legacy file fields, sorted by the nodes that reference them, showing which are missing alt text, which hold placeholder text, and which are marked decorative.
Decorative image detection
Background images, spacer graphics, and repeated icons are flagged as candidates for an empty alt attribute instead of a forced description, so screen readers skip them cleanly.
Drush bulk auditing
A drush command scans the entire Media library from the command line, so a multisite platform can audit every subsite on a schedule instead of one node at a time.
From composer require to Fixed, in Four Steps
Install and scan
Enable the module with composer and drush, then run the first Media library scan. Most sites see full results in under 10 minutes for a 2,000-image library.
Review flagged images
Work a prioritized queue in a Views report, sorted by which pages get the most traffic, with an AI-drafted description ready to accept or edit for each Media entity.
Extend enforcement past core
Turn on the entity-level constraint and quality checks so alt text is required on migrations, feeds, and API writes too, not just the content form, and placeholder alt no longer slips through.
Monitor on cron
A scheduled scan catches images added through migrations, feeds, or the API that bypass the standard content form.
“We found 1,100 images with no alt text across a Drupal site nobody had audited since the D7 migration. The Views report and the AI drafts cleared the backlog in three weeks with two part-time editors.”
Communications Director, Mid-Size County Government
Common Questions About Alt Text Manager
Doesn’t Drupal core already require alt text?
Yes, on standard image field widgets, and that has been the default since Drupal 8.4. It is a solid baseline. What core does not do: enforce alt on images added through migrations, feeds, the JSON:API, or code; flag placeholder or filename alt text that technically passes; or audit the images already in your library. Alt Text Manager covers exactly those gaps rather than reinventing what core does well.
How is this different from Editoria11y?
Editoria11y flags a missing alt attribute in the editor as an advisory tooltip, which is genuinely useful and free. Alt Text Manager adds entity-level enforcement on the write paths core and Editoria11y both miss, alt-quality detection, a full Media library backlog audit, AI-drafted descriptions, and Drush bulk scanning across multisite. They complement each other; this handles the backlog and the governance the editor-time tools leave open.
Does AI-generated alt text meet WCAG 1.1.1 on its own?
No. WCAG 1.1.1 requires a text alternative that serves the equivalent purpose of the image, and an unreviewed AI guess can miss context only an editor knows. Alt Text Manager drafts a suggestion; a person still approves or rewrites it before it saves.
Get Alt Text Manager on Your Drupal Site
There's no self-serve checkout yet. Submit the form and our team confirms your license tier, sends pricing, and gives you private Composer repository access with installation instructions within 1 business day.
- Drupal 10.6+ or Drupal 11, PHP 8.1+, works with the Media library and image fields
- License covers updates and support for 12 months
Need more than one? See the full Accessibility Suite bundle.
Request to Purchase
Tell us which modules you need. We'll send licensing and setup details.
Pairs Well With
Looking for the deeper compliance picture? Read how these modules fit into WCAG 2.1 AA compliance for government websites, or browse our accessibility resources hub for guides on ADA Title II deadlines.
See Your Agency's PDF Risk in 2 Minutes
Enter your government website URL. We crawl every page, scan every PDF, and deliver a full ADA compliance risk report. No account. No credit card.
Run Free AuditTalk to Someone Who Speaks Government
Our team understands government procurement, ADA compliance timelines, and what it takes to migrate a government website. Free 20-minute demo. No hard sell.
- Full platform walkthrough for your agency type
- Answers to procurement and security questions
- Honest timeline and migration assessment