[csswg-drafts] [css-image-animation] alt-less (decorative) images need to be addressed (#13785)

aardrian has just created a new issue for https://github.com/w3c/csswg-drafts:

== [css-image-animation] alt-less (decorative) images need to be addressed ==
Reading through [§ 5. Accessibility Considerations](https://www.w3.org/TR/css-image-animation-1/#a11y) I see these statements:

> * Web pages can already contain animated images, and appropriate [alt](https://html.spec.whatwg.org/multipage/embedded-content.html#attr-img-alt) text is already expected to be provided. No change is expected nor necessary to accommodate for pausing/resuming animations. Descriptions like ”Cartoon coyote being squashed by a falling anvil“, “cute dancing hamster”, “under construction”, or “rotating loading indicator” remain equally appropriate and evocative whether the animation is running or not.

It is not uncommon for me to encounter alt-less animated images in accessibility reviews, design systems, or articles (whether by leaving the `alt` attribute blank or using [empty quotes after the `/`](https://www.w3.org/TR/css-content-3/#alt) in images called via CSS generated content). Whether a WCAG violation or not is moot (some animated images can be truly decorative).

Further, [not all screen reader users are blind](https://adrianroselli.com/2017/02/not-all-screen-reader-users-are-blind.html) and still need the ability to pause animated images.

The problem is that once an `<img>` element gets a blank `alt`, the user agent no longer exposes it to screen readers. This is a problem when a screen reader user wants to pause/stop an image since it's not there as far as the browser is concerned.

While the statement above that I quoted from the spec is intended to say (I think) that no changes needs to be made to authored alt text, the reality is that if no change is made then a decorative animated image cannot be stopped. Which means this first bullet under [§ 5. Accessibility Considerations](https://www.w3.org/TR/css-image-animation-1/#a11y) is already incorrect:

> * The features introduced by this specification enable authors to address what would otherwise be a violation of [WCAG 2.2 §  Success Criterion 2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide](https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/#pause-stop-hide).

So either urgency is needed for #13784 or some other method to address this has to be developed.

For clarity, when I refer to "decorative" images, I am referring the WAI / WCAG / existing CSS definitions, not the one in this draft. See #13783 for more detail.



Please view or discuss this issue at https://github.com/w3c/csswg-drafts/issues/13785 using your GitHub account


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Received on Thursday, 9 April 2026 23:38:42 UTC