Images as background

Why it matters

Google and people using a screen reader cannot tell what a background image shows. For decoration that is fine. For a case photo or a product, you lose the description.

How Snaglist checks it

Snaglist lists images in the content that come from inline styling or from attributes such as data-bg. Per page you see the first image and how many there are. This is a notice, not an error.

Snaglist reports this as a notice. It costs 5 percent of the page in the health score. Good to know, and sometimes a deliberate choice.

Common causes

• A page builder that places images as a background
• A theme with a hero as a background image
• Lazy loading through data attributes

How to fix it

1. Decide per image whether it tells something.
2. If so, make it a normal image with alt text.
3. If it is decoration, leave it.

How it shows in the report

In the report for your client this appears under the heading "Images with no place for alt text". When everything is in order, the report says: "No background images in the content".