Using images in web content

Before continuing, read When to use images in online content. 

Decorative images do not add important meaning to nearby text. They are used for visual layout reasons and do not have a function, like a link.

Avoid using meaningless images for decoration. They can clutter a page and distract people from your message.

An image is decorative if people can understand your information without it. 

Examples can include:

• stock photos that support nearby text but do not give information ("eye-candy")
• background images
• borders, icons or graphics used for style
• photos, illustrations or graphics not referenced in or relevant to the main text
• images that repeat information fully explained in the text and are not referenced by the text (redundant)

You must judge whether to treat an image as decorative or informative based on the reason for including it on the page. 

If you use decorative images, they must be set up correctly so digital tools know to ignore them.

For example, by marking them 'decorative' in Word documents or leaving an image alt text attribute (alt="") empty on web pages.

Unsure whether your image is informative or decorative? Try reading your page out loud. If you need to explain the image to understand the page, it's probably an informative image. If not, it's decorative.