Images have meaningful alt text

Images without meaningful alt text are invisible to search engine crawlers — Google Image Search cannot index them, and they contribute no keyword signal to the surrounding page content. This is also the most frequently failed WCAG criterion: WCAG 2.2 SC 1.1.1 (Non-text Content) requires every content image to have a text alternative that conveys equivalent information. Screen reader users hear nothing for images missing alt, or hear raw filenames like "IMG_2034.jpg" that provide no useful context. In regulated industries (healthcare, finance, education), missing alt text on content images is an ADA liability vector that has resulted in class-action settlements.

Add descriptive alt text to every content image. Write what the image shows, not what it is:

// Correct — describes the subject
<Image src="/founder.jpg" alt="Sarah Chen, founder of YourSite, speaking at DevConf 2024" />

// Correct — decorative image explicitly marked
<Image src="/divider.svg" alt="" role="presentation" />

// Wrong — generic
<Image src="/team.jpg" alt="image" />

// Wrong — filename
<Image src="/banner.png" alt="banner.png" />

For icons used as interactive controls (buttons with no visible label), set aria-label on the button instead and use alt="" on the icon itself. Grep for alt="" to find decorative-marked images and verify each is genuinely non-content.