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Finding and editing empty ALT attributes in Joomla

Having alt attributes for images is important for SEO and accessibility. With the Link checker, you can find missing alt attributes and set them.

In the detailed view of a link image (src attribute) there will be a list of instances: the locations where the image source is found. A Joomla item might have several instances. For example, an article has the 'intro text' the 'full text' and the 'Image and Links' parts, called instances within the link checker.

Edit the ALT of a src element

 

Not all extractors support setting the alt attribute yet. If supported, there will be a form to set the alt for this specific link and location.

The behavior of setting the alt tag is slightly different from the link replacements.

A link replacement replaces all matching old links with the new link in all instances in all items in all components.

When setting an ALT attribute, you can specify where to set the new value:

  • instance - the value is only set for the current field. This is useful if the same image should have different ALT attributes throout an item. For example, a different ALT for the 'Intro text image' and the 'Full text image' in an article
  • container - the value is only set for the current item. For example, if you use the same image in different languages an must have a different ALT
  • extractor - the ALT is set for the current component (or part). 
  • site - the ALT is set for all images for all items

Keep in mind that not all extractors and parsers can set the ALT directly from the Links View.

Example

<!-- this is the instance intro_text of article 3-->
<img src="/images/image-one.jpg" alt="Old Alt"></p>
<img src="/images/image-one.jpg" alt="Other Alt"></p><!-- same img in instance-->
<img src="/images/image-one.jpg" alt=""></p><!-- same img in instance-->
<img src="/images/image-one.jpg" ></p><!-- same img in instance-->
<img src="/images/image-two.jpg" alt=""></p>
<hr id="system-readmore">
<!-- this is the instance full_text of article 3-->
<img src="/images/image-one.jpg.jpg" alt=""> 
<img src="/images/image-three.jpg.jpg" alt="">

Set the alt to 'New Alt' for link images/image-one.jpg in instance 'intro_text'

<!-- this is the instance intro_text of article 3-->
<img src="/images/image-one.jpg" alt="New Alt">
<img src="/images/image-one.jpg" alt="New Alt"><!-- same img in instance - this one had a different alt-->
<img src="/images/image-one.jpg" alt="New Alt"><!-- same img in instance - this one had an empty  alt -->
<img src="/images/image-one.jpg" alt="New Alt" ><!-- same img in instance - this one had no  alt -->
<img src="/images/image-two.jpg" alt=""><!-- not replaced other link-->
<hr id="system-readmore">
<!-- this is the instance full_text of article 3-->
<img src="/images/image-one.jpg.jpg" alt=""> <!-- not replaced other instance would be replaced with 'container'-->
<img src="/images/image-three.jpg.jpg" alt=""><!-- not replaced other link-->

Other items are not affected

<!-- this is the instance intro_text of article 99-->
<h2>This is a different article</h2>
<img src="/images/image-one.jpg" alt="Not Replaced"> <!-- different article would be replaced with 'extractor'-->

Other Component

<!-- this is the instance description of cagtegory 37-->
<h2>This is a cool category</h2>
<img src="/images/image-one.jpg" alt="Not Replaced"> <!-- different article would be replaced with 'site'-->

Finding missing ALT

The Links view as a filter to select all images without ALT tag.

How to filter on empty ALT attributes

Filtering images

Images are spread through Joomla in a wild collection of locations. In HTML, in configurations, parameters and Custom Fields.

HTML Images / Images in content

Go to the 'Links page options' in the 'Broken Link Checker Configuration' and enable 'Parser'. Filtering on parser img will list all HTML images (<img src=....).

Other images

Go to the 'Links page options' in the 'Broken Link Checker Configuration' and enable 'Field'. This will show fields like image_intro and image_fulltext for the 'Images and Links' part of articles. And similar fields for other components.

Enabling the Set ALT form in the Links view

To add the form to the Links view go to the 'Links page options' in the 'Broken Link Checker Configuration' and enable 'Show Instances'

Setting to filter Images
The options to filter on images and show the 'Set ALT' form in the links view

Supported

This functionality was introduced in version 25.44.6807 of the link checker. After updating from an older version, you will need to reparse (extract) the content for the filter to work. Visit the 'Setup & Maintenance' page and use one of the purge options.

How to purge extracted links

  • Joomla articles - com_content - 25.44.6807
    • html img (src) elements → alt tag
    • Intro Image and Full Article Image → Image Description (Alt Text)