Since 28 June 2025, the European Accessibility Act (EAA) applies to online shops selling to consumers in the European Union. One of the most visible requirements is also one of the most neglected on WordPress sites: a text alternative for every meaningful image.
Who is concerned?
The EAA (Directive 2019/882) covers e-commerce services offered to consumers in the EU, wherever the seller is based. Each member state has transposed it into national law (in Germany, for example, the Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz or BFSG). Microenterprises that provide services, meaning fewer than 10 employees and an annual turnover or balance sheet of no more than €2 million, are exempt, but accessibility still matters for their customers and their search visibility.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Check your own obligations with a professional.
What it means for your images
Accessibility requirements are assessed against the harmonised standard EN 301 549, which builds on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Their very first criterion, “non-text content”, asks for a text alternative for images that carry information. In WordPress, that is the image’s alternative text (alt attribute).
- Product photos, illustrations and infographics need an alt text that says what they show.
- Purely decorative images can keep an empty alt text, so screen readers skip them.
- A file name such as “IMG_2024.jpg” is not an alternative text.
What makes a good alt text
- Describe what is visible, in one sentence: “White ceramic mug on a light wooden table.”
- Stay short: around 125 characters is the usual recommendation for screen readers.
- Do not invent places, brands or claims that are not in the image.
- Write in the language of the page where the image appears.
- Skip “image of”: screen readers already announce that it is an image.
And when you have thousands of images?
Writing alt texts by hand is fine for ten images, not for a catalogue. That is why we built SafeAlt, a WordPress plugin that writes the alt text, title and caption of your images with AI:
- new images are described automatically, existing ones in a few clicks or with WP-CLI;
- texts follow the language of your content (7 languages) and the page where the image is used;
- your own texts are never overwritten without your approval, and a review mode lets you check everything;
- images are analysed on our servers in Europe, with no third-party AI, and deleted right after.
An AI can be wrong about what it sees: review the most important images of your site. SafeAlt flags uncertain results “to check” instead of applying them.
25 images a month are free, without a credit card.
