When designing accessible digital services, one question constantly comes up: should this image be described or not? This apparently simple question hides a fundamental issue. Because not all images are created equal. Some convey essential information, while others serve only to enrich the visual experience. Confusing the two risks either unnecessarily overloading the experience of people using assistive technologies, or obscuring crucial information.
Knowing how to qualify an image correctly means understanding its real function in the content. It also means giving yourself the means to make the right decisions at the design stage, before accessibility problems accumulate. This guide offers you a clear method for distinguishing between informative and decorative images, avoiding the most common mistakes, and integrating this thinking naturally into your work process.
Why the distinction between informative and decorative images is essential
Images play a central role in digital services: they illustrate statements, structure pages, guide navigation and enhance content. And yet, if they are poorly qualified, they can create gaps in access to information that could have been avoided.
For blind or very visually impaired people using a screen reader, an image carrying information without a textual alternative renders the content completely invisible, as there is no text that can be read by the screen reader. Conversely, a purely decorative image accompanied by a useless description pollutes navigation and drowns out the essential information in superfluous detail.
Visually impaired users face other obstacles. When text is integrated directly into an image, it becomes impossible to enlarge it, adapt the colours or reinforce the contrasts according to their needs. What should be legible remains frozen in an unsuitable format.
For people with dyslexia, this same technical constraint prevents them from customising fonts and spacing, two adjustments that are often essential to make reading easier.
In the majority of cases, these difficulties do not stem from a complex technical fault, but from a lack of understanding of the real role of the image in the content. This is where it all begins.
The key question when deciding between information and decoration
Before any technical considerations, ask yourself this simple, straightforward question: if I delete this image, am I losing information that is essential to understanding the content?
If the answer is yes, the image carries information. It must be made accessible in an equivalent form, whether by a textual alternative, a detailed description or a transcription of the data it contains.
If the answer is no, the image is decorative. It should be ignored by assistive technologies so as not to clutter up navigation unnecessarily.
This question forms the basis of any approach to image accessibility. It allows us to avoid automatisms and to treat each visual according to its proper function, based on the context of use rather than on rigid rules.
Understanding the nuances between information and decoration
Decorative images
An image is considered decorative when it does not provide any information that is essential for understanding the content. Its role is to provide a visual accompaniment to the content, to liven up the layout or to reinforce an atmosphere, without conveying an independent message.
We often find atmospheric photos that illustrate the theme of an article without providing any specific information. For example, a photo of a fireplace in an article on Living Well at Home creates a visual context, but does nothing to change the understanding of the text. Generic illustration images work on the same principle: they support the aesthetics of the page without providing any specific information.
Graphic separators, textures, patterns and backgrounds also fall into this category. They contribute to the visual structure, but removing them in no way alters the meaning of the content.
Finally, some icons accompany text that is already explicit. If a calendar icon precedes the words «Appointment date: 18 December 2025», it is redundant. The text is sufficient to convey the information. The icon is therefore decorative.
Images that convey information
An image conveys information when it conveys content that the surrounding text does not. It is not incidental: it is an integral part of the message.
Computer graphics are the most obvious example. They summarise data, draw comparisons and reveal trends. Without access to their content, the user loses a substantial part of the information.
Graphs and charts work in the same way. Whether it's a trend line, a pie chart or a histogram, these visuals carry precise data that needs to be rendered in an accessible form.
Explanatory diagrams also convey structured information. A technical diagram, an evacuation plan or a flow chart cannot be ignored: they contain relationships, stages and hierarchies that are essential to understanding.
Any image containing text must be treated with care. If this text does not appear anywhere else, the image becomes the only source of information, which poses a major accessibility problem.
Finally, some images are used on their own to convey a message or instruction. A clickable icon with no visible text, a promotional banner with no associated text content, or a button consisting solely of a visual all carry information that must be accessible.
Practical examples to practise detecting information and description
Example 1: Photo in a news article
A press article entitled «What we know about the hacking of the Ministry of the Interior», accompanied by a photo of the entrance to the Ministry with a car passing through the gate.
Question: without the photo, does the information change?
Verdict: no. The photo provides a visual context, but the text is all you need to understand the subject.
Conclusion: decorative image.
Example 1: Photo in a news article
Example 2: Computer graphics with statistics
An infographic presenting the challenges faced by French nationals living abroad: volumes, trends, types, levels of protection.
Question: do we lose data without the image?
Verdict: yes. The information is conveyed directly by the visuals.
Conclusion: a complex image that conveys information.
Example 2: Computer graphics with statistics
Example 3: Promotional banner
A commercial offer displayed in the form of an image: «-15 % on the entire NEVA range», with conditions and information integrated into the visual (card exclusivity and various restrictions).
Question: is the message accessible without the image?
The verdict: no. The text cannot be enlarged, customised or rendered correctly.
Conclusion: problematic text image.
Example 3: Promotional banner
How do you choose between informative and decorative? Pitfalls and common mistakes
A few tips to support your analysis
There are a few things that should immediately catch your attention when analysing an image.
The presence of text only in an image is the first warning sign. If the textual information does not exist anywhere else on the page, the image should be treated as informative, or even replaced by real text. The image format prevents enlargement and the customisation of fonts, spacing and contrast. For the visually impaired or dyslexic, this makes reading difficult, if not impossible.
Apart from rare justified exceptions (logos, protected trade names, reproductions of historical documents that cannot be reproduced in any other way), text images should be avoided. Text should be reproduced in HTML so that it can be manipulated and accessed by everyone.
An image that conveys information without a textual equivalent in the surrounding content also raises questions. We need to ask ourselves whether this information is essential and, if so, provide an accessible alternative.
Infographics with no associated accessible content are a frequent case of accessibility failure. A simple statement such as «see the infographic above» is not enough: the user must be able to access equivalent, structured and comprehensible content. Depending on the nature of the image, this can take the form of a table of data, text structured into paragraphs, or a detailed description organised logically. The aim is to ensure that the information is accessible, understandable and usable, regardless of visual perception.
A clickable icon with no visible label creates ambiguity. If the user can't tell what the button does without seeing the icon, then the icon carries information that needs to be rendered.
Finally, if you hesitate to classify an image as informative or decorative, this is often a sign that it merits more in-depth analysis. This doubt generally indicates an ambiguous function or an ill-defined context of use.
Common mistakes to avoid
A number of mistakes are regularly made when qualifying images. The first is to provide a textual alternative to a purely decorative image. This clutters up screen reader users' navigation with superfluous information, slows them down and dilutes the essential with the accessory.
Another common mistake is to describe the visual form rather than the meaning. Saying «photo of a man cutting rose bushes» is meaningless if the image is decorative. Conversely, if the image conveys information, you need to describe what it communicates, not what it shows.
Some people consider that an image is informative because it is beautiful, well-crafted or conveys a strong visual identity. But aesthetics do not define function. An image can be magnificent and perfectly decorative.
Leaving the qualification of images solely to the technical teams is also a strategic error. This decision is based on an editorial and functional understanding of the content, not on simple technical configuration. It must be taken upstream, by those who design the content and those who feed it on a daily basis.
Finally, dealing with the accessibility of images at the end of the project multiplies the difficulties. Corrections become costly, arbitration is difficult and inconsistencies accumulate. The accessibility of images needs to be considered at the design stage.
The accessibility of images is not an isolated technical constraint to be dealt with at the end of the project. It's a demanding design practice, based on a detailed understanding of the uses and meaning conveyed by each visual. By systematically asking the key question right from the design stage, involving the right people at the right time, and documenting the choices made, you can turn a regulatory obligation into a lever for the continuous improvement of your content.
In the end, a well-designed image means respecting the path taken by all your users, including those with disabilities, by giving them all the same level of information.