How to Handle Accessibility Flags for Featured Blog Images

This article explains how featured blog images are handled for accessibility and what you can do when accessibility tools flag those images.

How featured blog images are treated

• Blog images are configured to pass an empty alt attribute (alt="") by default.
• Empty alt="" is used because these images are generally decorative or atmospheric and do not add meaningful context beyond the blog title and content.
• For third‑party blog posts on the platform, alt text cannot be customized on a per‑post basis.

Guidance for handling image accessibility flags

• If an accessibility scanner flags a featured image but the image is decorative and contains alt="", that flag can be treated as a false positive.
• When an image is decorative and not linked, alt="" is the appropriate implementation.
• If an image is linked (acts as a link), it should have an accessible description rather than being purely decorative. In that case, provide meaningful alt text or an image description so users understand the link target.

Practical steps

1. Inspect the featured image in the blog post HTML to confirm the alt attribute value.
   • If alt="" is present and the image is decorative, no further action is required.
2. Check whether the image is wrapped in a link (an element).
   • If the image is linked, ensure it has meaningful alt text or an image description to describe the link target.

• If your accessibility tool continues to report issues for images that are correctly marked alt="", you may:
  • Manually dismiss the false positive flags in your accessibility workflow.
  • Continue reviewing other flagged items (for example, hidden headers or orphaned labels) as appropriate.

• Consult the platform’s self‑service guides in the Knowledge Hermiston for product documentation and procedures.
• Join the uConnect Community to discuss best practices with other users and find upcoming events.