Identify the job each gallery image performs
Read a gallery's headings and captions, then look at its images. Which photo shows a detail the text does not explain: a joint, finish transition or before-and-after condition? Which simply decorates a caption that already supplies the meaning? A useful alternative comes from the image's role in this page, not a formula requiring every file to have a long description.
Distinguish informative detail from repeated decoration
W3C distinguishes informative images from decorative or redundant ones. Apply that distinction within each gallery block. Genuine project facts must come from an approved record, not from guessing what the photograph shows. A text alternative can explain a visible detail; it should not manufacture a location, customer result or technical specification.
Source checks: W3C WAI: Informative Images · W3C WAI: Decorative Images
Review one project gallery in order
Choose one gallery and review images in their actual reading order. Write the caption's purpose first, then identify additional information in the image. Keep alternatives short enough to communicate that difference. If an image also acts as a link, make the linked task understandable through its accessible name rather than describing appearance while hiding the action.
- Read the project heading and caption to establish the verified context.
- Identify the meaningful visual information not already present in nearby text.
- Write a concise alternative for that information, or use supported decorative treatment for genuine redundancy.
- Check linked gallery items so their destination or action remains understandable.
- Review the gallery without images and with appropriate assistive-technology support where available.
Avoid keyword lists and invented project facts
Do not paste a city-and-service keyword list into every alternative. Repeating full captions can make the gallery exhausting to hear. Empty text is inappropriate when a photo supplies essential evidence absent from the page. Do not call a picture 'before' or 'after' unless the project record establishes that relationship.
Test the meaning available without images
Record which meaningful details remain understandable without seeing the image. Ask an appropriate reviewer about confusing repetition or missing linked actions. The result identifies content issues in this gallery. It does not prove full accessibility across the site or establish a search-ranking benefit from a particular alternative wording.
Keep captions and alternatives reviewed together
Keep alternatives with the captions and approved project facts. When a gallery image changes, revisit its role rather than carrying over the previous description automatically. Give editors a few project-specific examples and explain why a redundant decorative image differs from a photo that demonstrates a workmanship detail. Preserve permissions and privacy-aware project presentation.
Worked example: an illustrative customer journey
For example, a flooring gallery caption identifies a completed room and its approved service scope. One close-up adds the visible transition between two materials, so its alternative describes that detail. A decorative overview repeats all information already supplied nearby and is treated accordingly.
A text-only review retains the meaningful transition information without hearing the same full caption twice. The example demonstrates role-based editing, not a guarantee that every photograph is decorative or that alternative text improves a measured search position.
Caption plus meaningful image detail
Caption already explains it
Consider supported decorative treatment
Image adds evidence
Describe the additional visible detail
Image is a link
Keep its action understandable
Unverified project fact
Do not invent it in the alternative
Your practical checklist
- Establish the verified project context before writing alternatives.
- Identify the additional information each image supplies.
- Avoid repeating a complete adjacent caption unnecessarily.
- Keep linked image actions understandable.
- Do not invent locations, outcomes or before-and-after relationships.
- Review alternatives whenever gallery images change.
Your next action
Review one gallery and identify a visual detail that its captions currently leave unexplained.
Questions about this task
Should every project photo have empty alternative text?
No. Use an informative description when it supplies meaningful information not already available.
Can alt text include the service name?
Include it when it helps explain the actual image purpose, rather than as repeated keyword decoration.
Should the filename become the description?
Do not assume it communicates the image's useful role. An internal filename may describe an export version rather than the workmanship detail. Review the actual image and approved context, then choose the appropriate informative or decorative treatment.
Sources and editorial notes
Prepared with AI-assisted research. Official sources are linked below; worked examples and checklists are Getting Found Local recommendations, not measured client outcomes.
Sources checked October 13, 2026. Platform interfaces and local resources may change; follow the current instructions on the linked official page.
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