How to Check If an Image Has Alt Text

Alt text — short for alternative text — is a written description embedded in an image's HTML that communicates what the image shows to screen readers, search engines, and browsers when images fail to load. Checking whether an image has it is a foundational skill for web developers, designers, accessibility auditors, and content managers alike.

There are several reliable methods to inspect alt text, and which approach makes most sense depends on your technical comfort level, the tools you have access to, and what you're trying to accomplish.

What Alt Text Actually Is (and Where It Lives)

In HTML, alt text sits inside the <img> tag as the alt attribute: