Image optimisation begins with choosing an image that supports the reader's task. A faster file cannot make an irrelevant stock image informative. Review meaning, accessibility and delivery together so that images strengthen a page without hiding information from people who cannot see them.
Decide what the image communicates
Distinguish informative images, functional images and decoration. Describe meaningful visual information in suitable alternative text; explain a linked image's action where necessary. Complex diagrams may need a fuller nearby explanation. Avoid inserting keywords that do not describe the image's role in this particular page.
Publish clear context
Use an appropriate file name and place the image alongside relevant text. Product images should represent the actual item and variants, while editorial illustrations should be labelled when they are hypothetical. Do not rely on text embedded in an image as the only way to communicate essential instructions or prices.
Control delivery and verify the page
Use appropriately sized files and responsive image techniques supported by the platform. Reserve layout space and inspect the mobile page for cropping or displaced content. Check that image resources load publicly where intended. Test the actual published page, because an accessible media-library description does not prove the final markup is correct.
Put the method to work
Illustrative review: a furniture shop replaces a decorative category banner with a clear material comparison diagram, provides a nearby textual explanation and serves an appropriately sized image. The change is judged by usefulness and reliable delivery, not a promised image-search ranking.
Your next steps
- Identify each image's informative or decorative role
- Write alternatives appropriate to the page context
- Check file delivery and mobile cropping
- Verify the published markup and nearby explanation
Questions & answers
Should every image contain keyword-rich alt text?
No. Alternatives should communicate relevant meaning. Decorative images commonly need an empty alternative, while functional images need an understandable purpose.
Does the snapshot inspect every image on a site?
No. Gavek's public snapshot examines initial HTML from one page. It is not a visual accessibility audit or a full media-library crawl.
Documentation & further reading
- developers.google.com · › search › docs › appearance › google-images
- www.w3.org · › WAI › tutorials › images › decision-tree ›
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