Free + PROAPC Editorial tool · Images
Alt text generator plugin for your WordPress images, with AI or by hand
The APC Editorial Auto Alt Text brings each image's alt text into the Media Library list: you type and confirm it right there, find the images still missing one and, on PRO, let AI write it from the image itself, in your site's language.
- Free hand editing
- A list of images with no alt
- AI alt text on PRO
In short
Auto Alt Text adds an APC - Alt text column to the WordPress Media Library, with each image's alt text in a field that is always open. You fill in dozens of images without opening them one by one, and on PRO AI writes the alt text by looking at the image itself.
It is part of APC Editorial, but it works on its own: you don't need to generate articles. Editing by hand is free and uses no AI; writing with AI uses your Anthropic key.
- Where
- Media Library, media window and block editor
- By hand
- An always-open field and the Confirm button
- In bulk
- One text for many images at once
- No alt
- A button lists only the missing ones
- With AI
- Written from the image, in your site's language
- AI cost
- On your Anthropic account, image by image
- Plan
- Free; writing with AI is PRO
What it is
Alt text: the image told in words.
Alt text is the description stored in the code of each image. People looking at the page don't see it, but it makes a difference in 3 situations.
People who use a screen reader hear the alt text in place of the image. That is why accessibility asks for a text alternative for all non-text content: it is success criterion 1.1.1 of the WCAG guidelines, at the most basic level, A. The browser shows the alt text when the image doesn't load. And Google uses the alt text, together with the page's content, to understand what the image is about, according to Google's own image SEO guide.
In WordPress, each image in the Media Library has 4 text fields, and only one of them is the alt text. Mixing them up is the most common mistake:
| WordPress field | What it is for | Shown on the page? | In Auto Alt Text |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alternative Text | Describes the image for screen readers and for Google. | No, it stays in the code | The field the column shows and confirms, and the one AI writes. |
| Title | The item's name in the library. It starts as the file name. | Usually not | Never copied into the alt text. |
| Caption | Text the reader sees below the image. | Yes | Left untouched. |
| Description | Longer text for the attachment page. | Only on the attachment page | Left untouched. |
Good practice
Good alt text describes what matters.
There is no single right text for every page: the alt text describes what that image shows to someone reading that content. Accessibility guidance and Google's guide agree on 4 points:
- Be specific: "the office building on Paulista Avenue" says more than "building".
- Don't start with "image of": the screen reader already says it is an image.
- Use the keyword only when it describes the image. Stuffing the alt text with keywords is exactly what Google asks you to avoid.
- Text inside the image goes into the alt: a banner with a sentence needs that sentence in its alt text.
A purely decorative image, such as a background or an icon next to a heading, can have empty alt text, so the screen reader skips it.
What it does
Every image's alt text, on one screen.
In the Media Library list view, without opening image after image. The AI part also shows up in the editor.
An always-open field
The APC - Alt text column shows each image's alt text ready to edit. Type and click Confirm: Enter confirms and jumps to the next row, Esc goes back to the saved text.
Only the missing ones
The APC - No alt text (N) button, in the filter bar, lists only the images with no alt text. The number drops right away with every alt you confirm.
One text for many
Select the images and use the APC - Edit Alt Text bulk action. Handy for a series of photos from the same event. An empty text is refused.
Nothing left half done
A field you changed and did not confirm gets an amber border, and WordPress warns you if you try to leave the page. Bulk actions skip that row.
AI alt text, in bulk
On PRO, APC - Generate/Regenerate Alt Text writes the alt text of each selected image from the image itself: with no alt, it creates one; with an alt, it rewrites it. On the row, Generate alt or Regenerate.
In the editor too
On PRO, the Generate with AI button sits below the Alternative Text field of the media window, Elementor's included, and the APC - Alt text panel shows up in the Image, Cover and Media & Text blocks.
Safe
AI never writes over anyone.
Alt text is something someone may have written with care. That is why writing with AI follows simple rules:
- The person wins: if someone saves a newer alt text while AI is writing, theirs stays, and the AI's suggestion shows on screen, unsaved.
- Failed means empty: when AI can't write it, the alt stays empty, with a notice. It never becomes a copy of the title.
- What was paid is never lost: if WordPress can't save the text (because of an emoji, for example), it stays in the field for you to adjust and save, without paying again.
- Every cent written down: every paid call goes into the AI Cost History, image by image.
Step by step
Fill in the alt text in 4 steps.
The first 3 steps work on the Free plan. The 4th is PRO.
-
Turn the tool on
In Global Settings › Add-ons/Tools, turn on Auto Alt Text and save.
-
Open the Media Library
Use the list view. The APC - Alt text column shows up beside each image.
-
Start with the missing ones
Click APC - No alt text (N), type the alt text and press Enter to go to the next one.
-
Let AI write it
On PRO, select the images and use APC - Generate/Regenerate Alt Text. Check the result and adjust anything you like.
Want to see each screen? The step by step in the docs shows the column and the bulk actions.
Free and PRO
Editing is Free. AI writes on PRO.
Everything you do by hand is free, forever. PRO adds writing with AI, which uses your own Anthropic key.
Alt text by hand, with no image limit
- The APC - Alt text column with the Confirm button
- Enter for the next row and Esc to go back to the saved text
- One text for many images, in bulk
- The list of images with no alt text, with a live count
Alt text written by AI
- Generate or regenerate the alt text of many images at once
- The Generate with AI button in the media window and the panel in the editor's blocks
- Model and language chosen in the Auto Alt Text tab
- 30 days free to try everything
FAQ
Questions about alt text.
Does alt text help SEO?
It helps Google understand the image. Google's image SEO guide says alt text is used together with the page's content to understand what the image is about, and asks for useful text, in the context of the page, without stuffing keywords. It is also what the screen reader reads, so it helps the people who need it most.
Does every image need alt text?
Every image that carries information, yes. A purely decorative image, such as a background or an icon next to a heading, can have empty alt text, so the screen reader skips it. The APC - No alt text (N) button lists both, and you decide which ones to fill in.
I changed the alt text in the library, but the post still has the old one. Why?
When you place an image in a post, WordPress copies the alt text into the block. Changing the library afterwards doesn't reach an image already in the post. That is why, on PRO, the APC - Alt text panel of the Image, Cover and Media & Text blocks writes the alt text straight into the block.
What language does AI write the alt text in?
In your site's language. In the Auto Alt Text tab, an empty Alt text language field follows the output language of Global Settings, then the WordPress language. You can also pick another one.
How much does writing alt text with AI cost?
The cost goes straight to your Anthropic account, with no jode.io margin. You pick the model under Alt text model: a light model, Haiku, is enough and the cheapest. Every call is written down in the AI Cost History.
Do I need an AI key to edit alt text by hand?
No. The column, the Confirm button, the APC - Edit Alt Text bulk action and the list of images with no alt text are Free and use no AI. The Anthropic key only comes in when AI writes.
Can I fix what AI wrote?
Yes. The AI's alt text goes into the same field of the column: change anything you like and click Confirm. The same goes for the featured image APC creates with AI featured images.
Does the file name count too?
It does. Google's guide says a descriptive file name gives clues about the image's subject. To swap "IMG_2391.jpg" for a name that says something, without breaking your site's links, use Rename Media.
More add-ons and tools
Works together with these.
Each add-on and each tool turns on and off on its own, in Global Settings › Add-ons/Tools.
APC Editorial
Try it free for 30 days, with everything unlocked.
The Auto Alt Text tool is part of APC Editorial, the plugin to generate articles with AI with editorial planning. Free add-ons and tools stay free forever; PRO ones are unlocked during the 30 free days.