# Empty alt text assumed null?

**URL:** <https://community.evolveauthoring.com/t/empty-alt-text-assumed-null/1868>\
**Category:** General Help\
**Created:** [September 4, 2022, 2:03am UTC](https://community.evolveauthoring.com/t/empty-alt-text-assumed-null/1868 "2022-09-04T02:03:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mitch](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/community.evolveauthoring.com/mitch/32/978_2.png) [@Mitch](https://community.evolveauthoring.com/u/Mitch)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 2:03am UTC](https://community.evolveauthoring.com/t/empty-alt-text-assumed-null/1868/1 "2022-09-04T02:03:08Z")

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Hi all - Just wondering if Evolve creates a null (“”) entry by default for empty alt text fields on images?

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**Author:** ![BarryBPS](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/community.evolveauthoring.com/barrybps/32/540_2.png) [@BarryBPS](https://community.evolveauthoring.com/u/BarryBPS)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 10:39am UTC](https://community.evolveauthoring.com/t/empty-alt-text-assumed-null/1868/2 "2022-09-04T10:39:55Z")

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Hi Mitch, I’ve just tested this for you and checked how it works with JAWS, NVDA and Windows Narrator.

If you leave the Image Alt Text blank, Evolve adds the ALT attribute like so:

 ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/uploads/evolveauthoring/original/2X/6/672c6dce342a7931b079b8e772ba9aa52cd8fbe5.png)

When testing using JAWS, NVDA and Windows Narrator, on all occasions the image is completely skipped by the screenreader and no information about the image, such as the filename or height and width etc, are read out.

If this image is for decorative purposes only, this would be a good thing (in my opinion).

Thanks 🙂

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**Author:** ![Mitch](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/community.evolveauthoring.com/mitch/32/978_2.png) [@Mitch](https://community.evolveauthoring.com/u/Mitch)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 11:37pm UTC](https://community.evolveauthoring.com/t/empty-alt-text-assumed-null/1868/3 "2022-09-04T23:37:20Z")

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Thanks Barry. That’s helpful.

Is an alt tag like that OK though? It seems like WCAG is clear that the null attribute has to be assigned.

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**Author:** ![Sam\_Cook\_Evolve\_LQA](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/community.evolveauthoring.com/sam_cook_evolve_lqa/32/902_2.png) [@Sam\_Cook\_Evolve\_LQA](https://community.evolveauthoring.com/u/Sam_Cook_Evolve_LQA)\
**Post date:** [September 5, 2022, 8:36am UTC](https://community.evolveauthoring.com/t/empty-alt-text-assumed-null/1868/4 "2022-09-05T08:36:07Z")

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Hi both, if you leave the alt tag field blank, a null attribute is automatically set by Evolve.

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**Author:** ![BarryBPS](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/community.evolveauthoring.com/barrybps/32/540_2.png) [@BarryBPS](https://community.evolveauthoring.com/u/BarryBPS)\
**Post date:** [September 5, 2022, 1:41pm UTC](https://community.evolveauthoring.com/t/empty-alt-text-assumed-null/1868/5 "2022-09-05T13:41:50Z")

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I wondered the same, but as the screen readers do what I expect them to do, it works well.

And @Sam_Cook_Evolve_LQA has confirmed what Evolve is doing.

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**Author:** ![Mitch](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/community.evolveauthoring.com/mitch/32/978_2.png) [@Mitch](https://community.evolveauthoring.com/u/Mitch)\
**Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 6:59am UTC](https://community.evolveauthoring.com/t/empty-alt-text-assumed-null/1868/6 "2022-09-07T06:59:47Z")

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Thanks @BarryBPS and @Sam_Cook_Evolve_LQA for your help.