The WordPress Alt Text Plugin That Won’t Let a Missing Description Ship
A screen reader hits an image with no alt attribute and announces the filename: "IMG-4471.jpg." Alt Text Manager checks every image on save, drafts a description your editor can accept or rewrite, and flags decorative images that should be marked null instead of described.
Your Media Library Has Thousands of Undescribed Images. Nobody Audited It.
Most WordPress sites accumulate images for years before anyone checks alt text coverage. A typical agency or district site we’ve scanned carries 15 to 20 percent of images with empty or placeholder alt attributes: "image," "photo1," or nothing at all. Every one of those is a WCAG 1.1.1 failure and a point of friction for a screen reader user trying to understand the page.
This plugin pairs well with WPPersona's built-in accessibility compliance if your agency runs on the WPPersona CMS, and installs standalone on any WordPress 6.0+ site.
18%
average share of images missing usable alt text on WordPress 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 site.
Publish-time enforcement
The block editor flags any image without alt text before the post can be published. Editors can mark an image decorative instead of writing a forced, meaningless description.
AI-drafted descriptions
For uploaded images without alt text, the plugin drafts a candidate description an editor reviews and edits. Nothing publishes on an unreviewed AI guess.
Full media library audit
A one-click scan of every image already on the site, sorted by page, showing which images are missing alt text, which have placeholder text, and which are marked decorative.
Decorative image detection
Background images, spacer graphics, and repeated icons are flagged as candidates for empty alt="" instead of a forced description, so screen readers skip them cleanly.
Complex image support
Charts, infographics, and maps get a short alt attribute plus a linked long-description field, matching the WCAG pattern for images that need more than 125 characters to describe.
From Install to Fixed, in Four Steps
Install and scan
Activate the plugin and 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 through a prioritized queue, sorted by which pages get the most traffic, with an AI-drafted description ready to accept or edit for each image.
Enforce on new content
Turn on publish-time enforcement so no new image goes live without a reviewed alt attribute or a deliberate decorative marking.
Monitor monthly
A recurring scan catches new images uploaded outside the block editor, plugin-inserted images, and theme-level graphics that bypass the standard workflow.
“We found 1,100 images with no alt text across a site nobody had audited since it launched. Alt Text Manager cleared the backlog in three weeks with two part-time editors.”
Communications Director, Mid-Size County Government
Common Questions About Alt Text Manager
What is alt text and why does WordPress need a plugin for it?
Alt text is the written description a screen reader announces in place of an image. WordPress lets you add it manually per image, but it does not require it, check its quality, or audit images already in your library. Alt Text Manager adds that enforcement and audit layer.
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 publishes.
Will this plugin slow down my publishing workflow?
Reviewing an AI-drafted description takes editors 10 to 15 seconds per image once they’re used to the panel. The one-time backlog audit is the bigger time investment, and most editorial teams clear a few hundred images a week alongside normal publishing.
Get Alt Text Manager on Your Site
There's no self-serve checkout yet. Submit the form and our team confirms your license tier, sends pricing, and gets you installation instructions within 1 business day.
- WordPress 6.0+, PHP 7.4+, works with the Block Editor and Classic Editor
- License covers updates and support for 12 months
Need more than one? See the full Accessibility Suite bundle.
Request to Purchase
Tell us which plugins you need. We'll send licensing and setup details.
Pairs Well With
Looking for the deeper compliance picture? Read how these plugins fit into WCAG 2.1 AA compliance for government websites, or browse our accessibility resources hub for guides on ADA Title II deadlines.
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