Link containing img with null alt Screen reader compatibility

HTML WCAG
Dec 12, 2023

Expected Result: causes problems in some screen readers

Actual Result: causes problems in 150 screen reader / browser combinations

For expected failures, the results show which AT combos the failures affect. Results are recorded from the user's viewpoint, so describe the user impact of authoring errors.

WCAG Failure: F89

Code used for this test:


		<a href='4567.html'><img src='1234.png' alt=''></a>
	

Change History

Last updated: December 12, 2023

  • Bad NVDA with Chrome Causes problems from NVDA 2018.4 to NVDA 2023.3
  • Bad NVDA with IE Causes problems from NVDA 2014.1 to NVDA 2019.2
  • Bad NVDA with FF Causes problems from NVDA 2014.1 to NVDA 2023.3
  • Bad JAWS with Chrome Causes problems from JAWS 2018.1811.2 to JAWS 2023.2311.34
  • Bad JAWS with IE Causes problems from JAWS 13.0.852 to JAWS 2019.1912.1
  • Bad JAWS with FF Causes problems from JAWS 13.0.852 to JAWS 2023.2311.34
  • Bad VoiceOver macOS Causes problems from VoiceOver macOS 10.9 to VoiceOver macOS 13.6
  • Bad VoiceOver iOS Causes problems from VoiceOver iOS 7.1 to VoiceOver iOS 16.6
  • Bad WindowEyes with IE Causes problems from WindowEyes 8.4 to WindowEyes 9.2
  • Bad Dolphin with IE Causes problems in Dolphin SR 15.05
  • Bad SaToGo with IE Causes problems in SaToGo 3.4.96.0
Screen readerBrowserModeNotesWhat the user hears
Fail NVDA 2023.3Chrome 120 Reading Link URL read out: no indication of link purpose. Link four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven.
Fail NVDA 2023.3Chrome 120 Tabbing Link URL read out: no indication of link purpose. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven, link.
Fail NVDA 2023.3FF 115 Reading Link URL read out: no indication of link purpose. Link, four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven.
Fail NVDA 2023.3FF 115 Tabbing Link URL read out: no indication of link purpose. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven, link.
Fail NVDA 2023.3Edge 120 Reading No indication where link goes. Link, four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven.
Fail NVDA 2023.3Edge 120 Tabbing No indication of link purpose. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven, link.
Fail NVDA 2022.2Chrome 105 Reading Link URL read out: no indication of link purpose. Link four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven.
Fail NVDA 2022.2Chrome 105 Tabbing Link URL read out: no indication of link purpose. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven, link.
Fail NVDA 2022.2FF 102 Reading Link URL read out: no indication of link purpose. Link, four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven.
Fail NVDA 2022.2FF 102 Tabbing Link URL read out: no indication of link purpose. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven, link.
Fail NVDA 2022.2Edge 105 Reading No indication where link goes. Link, four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven.
Fail NVDA 2022.2Edge 105 Tabbing No indication of link purpose. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven, link.
Fail NVDA 2021.2Chrome 94 Reading Link URL read out: no indication of link purpose. Link four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven.
Fail NVDA 2021.2Chrome 94 Tabbing Link URL read out: no indication of link purpose. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven, link.
Fail NVDA 2021.2FF 91 Reading Link URL read out: no indication of link purpose. Link, four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven.
Fail NVDA 2021.2FF 91 Tabbing Link URL read out: no indication of link purpose. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven, link.
Fail NVDA 2021.2Edge 94 Reading No indication where link goes. Link, four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven.
Fail NVDA 2021.2Edge 94 Tabbing No indication of link purpose. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven, link.
Fail NVDA 2020.2Chrome 86 Reading Link URL read out: no indication of link purpose. Link four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven.
Fail NVDA 2020.2Chrome 86 Tabbing Link URL read out: no indication of link purpose. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven, link.
Fail NVDA 2020.2FF 78 Reading Link URL read out: no indication of link purpose. Link, four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven.
Fail NVDA 2020.2FF 78 Tabbing Link URL read out: no indication of link purpose. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven, link.
Fail NVDA 2020.2Edge 92 Reading No indication where link goes. Link, four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven.
Fail NVDA 2020.2Edge 92 Tabbing No indication of link purpose. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven, link.
Fail NVDA 2019.2Chrome 79 Reading Link URL read out: no indication of link purpose. Link four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven.
Fail NVDA 2019.2Chrome 79 Tabbing Link URL read out: no indication of link purpose. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven, link.
Fail NVDA 2019.2FF 68 Reading Link URL read out: no indication of link purpose. Link, four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven.
Fail NVDA 2019.2FF 68 Tabbing Link URL read out: no indication of link purpose. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven, link.
Fail NVDA 2019.2IE11 Reading No indication where link goes. Link, four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven.
Fail NVDA 2019.2IE11 Tabbing No indication of link purpose. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven, link.
Fail NVDA 2018.4Chrome 73 Reading Link URL read out: no indication of link purpose. Link four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven.
Fail NVDA 2018.4Chrome 73 Tabbing Link URL read out: no indication of link purpose. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven, link.
Fail NVDA 2018.4FF 60 Reading Link URL read out: no indication of link purpose. Link graphic four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven.
Fail NVDA 2018.4FF 60 Tabbing Link URL read out: no indication of link purpose. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven, link.
Fail NVDA 2018.4IE11 Reading No indication where link goes. Link, four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven.
Fail NVDA 2018.4IE11 Tabbing No indication of link purpose. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven, link.
Fail NVDA 2017.3FF 60 Reading Image and link ignored.
Fail NVDA 2017.3FF 60 Tabbing No indication of link purpose. Link.
Fail NVDA 2017.3IE11 Reading No indication where link goes. Link, four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven.
Fail NVDA 2017.3IE11 Tabbing No indication of link purpose. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven, link.
Fail NVDA 2016.2FF 48 Reading No indication where link goes. Link, four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven.
Fail NVDA 2016.2FF 48 Tabbing No indication of link purpose. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven, link.
Fail NVDA 2016.2IE11 Reading No indication where link goes. Link, four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven.
Fail NVDA 2016.2IE11 Tabbing No indication of link purpose. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven, link.
Fail NVDA 2015.2FF 40 Reading No indication where link goes. Link, four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven.
Fail NVDA 2015.2FF 40 Tabbing No indication of link purpose. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven, link.
Fail NVDA 2015.2IE11 Reading No indication where link goes. Link, four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven.
Fail NVDA 2015.2IE11 Tabbing No indication of link purpose. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven, link.
Fail NVDA 2014.1FF 29 Reading No indication where link goes. Link, four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven.
Fail NVDA 2014.1FF 29 Tabbing No indication of link purpose. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven, link.
Fail NVDA 2014.1IE11 Reading No indication where link goes. Link graphic, four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven.
Fail NVDA 2014.1IE11 Tabbing No indication of link purpose. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven, link.
Fail JAWS 2023.2311.34Chrome 120 Reading Link URL gibberish read out. Link, forty-five, sixty-seven.
Fail JAWS 2023.2311.34Chrome 120 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Forty-five, sixty-seven, link.
Fail JAWS 2023.2311.34FF 115 Reading Link URL gibberish read out. Link, forty-five, sixty-seven
Fail JAWS 2023.2311.34FF 115 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Forty-five, sixty-seven, link
Fail JAWS 2023.2311.34Edge 120 Reading Link URL gibberish read out. Link, forty-five, sixty-seven.
Fail JAWS 2023.2311.34Edge 120 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Forty-five, sixty-seven, link
Fail JAWS 2022.2207.25Chrome 105 Reading Link URL gibberish read out. Link, forty-five, sixty-seven.
Fail JAWS 2022.2207.25Chrome 105 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Forty-five, sixty-seven, link.
Fail JAWS 2022.2207.25FF 102 Reading Graphic SRC URL gibberish read out. Link graphic, twelve thirty four
Fail JAWS 2022.2207.25FF 102 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Twelve thirty four, link graphic
Fail JAWS 2022.2207.25Edge 105 Reading Link URL gibberish read out. Link, forty-five, sixty-seven.
Fail JAWS 2022.2207.25Edge 105 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Forty-five, sixty-seven, link
Fail JAWS 2021.2107.12Chrome 94 Reading Link URL gibberish read out. Link, forty-five, sixty-seven.
Fail JAWS 2021.2107.12Chrome 94 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Forty-five, sixty-seven, link.
Fail JAWS 2021.2107.12FF 91 Reading Graphic SRC URL gibberish read out. Link graphic, twelve thirty four
Fail JAWS 2021.2107.12FF 91 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Link, slash forty-five, sixty-seven dot HTML
Fail JAWS 2021.2107.12Edge 94 Reading Link URL gibberish read out. Link, forty-five, sixty-seven.
Fail JAWS 2021.2107.12Edge 94 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Forty-five, sixty-seven, link
Fail JAWS 2020.2008.24Chrome 86 Reading Link URL gibberish read out. Link, forty-five, sixty-seven.
Fail JAWS 2020.2008.24Chrome 86 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Forty-five, sixty-seven, link.
Fail JAWS 2020.2008.24FF 78 Reading Graphic SRC URL gibberish read out. Link graphic, twelve thirty four
Fail JAWS 2020.2008.24FF 78 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Twelve thirty four, link graphic
Fail JAWS 2020.2008.24Edge 92 Reading Link URL gibberish read out. Link, forty-five, sixty-seven.
Fail JAWS 2020.2008.24Edge 92 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Forty-five, sixty-seven, link
Fail JAWS 2019.1912.1Chrome 79 Reading Graphic SRC URL gibberish read out. Link graphic, twelve thirty four
Fail JAWS 2019.1912.1Chrome 79 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Twelve thirty four, link graphic
Fail JAWS 2019.1912.1FF 68 Reading Graphic SRC URL gibberish read out. Link graphic, twelve thirty four
Fail JAWS 2019.1912.1FF 68 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Twelve thirty four, link graphic
Fail JAWS 2019.1912.1IE11 Reading Link URL gibberish read out. Link graphic, slash twelve thirty four.
Fail JAWS 2019.1912.1IE11 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Slash twelve thirty four, link graphic
Fail JAWS 2018.1811.2Chrome 73 Reading Graphic SRC URL gibberish read out. Link graphic, twelve thirty four
Fail JAWS 2018.1811.2Chrome 73 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Tab, twelve thirty four, link graphic
Fail JAWS 2018.1811.2FF 60 Reading Graphic SRC URL gibberish read out. Link graphic, twelve thirty four
Fail JAWS 2018.1811.2FF 60 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Tab, twelve thirty four, link graphic
Fail JAWS 2018.1811.2IE11 Reading Link URL gibberish read out. Link graphic, slash twelve thirty four.
Fail JAWS 2018.1811.2IE11 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Tab, slash twelve thirty four, link graphic
Fail JAWS 18.0.5038FF 52 Reading Graphic SRC URL gibberish read out. Link graphic, twelve thirty four
Fail JAWS 18.0.5038FF 52 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Tab, twelve thirty four, link graphic
Fail JAWS 18.0.5038IE11 Reading Link URL gibberish read out. Link graphic, slash twelve thirty four.
Fail JAWS 18.0.5038IE11 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Tab, slash twelve thirty four, link graphic
Fail JAWS 17.0.2619FF 48 Reading Graphic SRC URL gibberish read out. Link graphic, twelve thirty four
Fail JAWS 17.0.2619FF 48 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Twelve thirty four, link graphic
Fail JAWS 17.0.2619IE11 Reading Link URL gibberish read out. Link graphic, slash twelve thirty four.
Fail JAWS 17.0.2619IE11 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Slash twelve thirty four, link graphic
Fail JAWS 16.0.4350FF 40 Reading Graphic SRC URL gibberish read out. Link graphic, twelve thirty four
Fail JAWS 16.0.4350FF 40 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Twelve thirty four, link graphic
Fail JAWS 16.0.4350IE11 Reading Link URL gibberish read out. Link graphic, slash twelve thirty four.
Fail JAWS 16.0.4350IE11 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Slash twelve thirty four, link graphic
Fail JAWS 15.0.9023FF 29 Reading Link URL gibberish read out. Link, forty five sixty seven
Fail JAWS 15.0.9023FF 29 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Forty five sixty seven, link
Fail JAWS 15.0.9023IE11 Reading Link URL gibberish read out. Link graphic, slash twelve thirty four.
Fail JAWS 15.0.9023IE11 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Slash twelve thirty four, link graphic
Fail JAWS 14.0.9002FF 29 Reading Link URL gibberish read out. Link forty five sixty seven
Fail JAWS 14.0.9002FF 29 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Forty five sixty seven, link
Fail JAWS 14.0.9002IE11 Reading Link URL gibberish read out. Link graphic, slash twelve thirty four.
Fail JAWS 14.0.9002IE11 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Slash twelve thirty four, link graphic
Fail JAWS 13.0.852FF 29 Reading Link URL gibberish read out. Link forty five sixty seven
Fail JAWS 13.0.852FF 29 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Forty five sixty seven, link
Fail JAWS 13.0.852IE11 Reading Link URL gibberish read out. Link graphic, slash twelve thirty four.
Fail JAWS 13.0.852IE11 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Slash twelve thirty four, link graphic
Fail WindowEyes 9.2IE11 Reading Link URL gibberish read out. Link slash forty five sixty seven dot HTML.
Fail WindowEyes 9.2IE11 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Link slash forty five sixty seven dot HTML.
Fail WindowEyes 8.4IE11 Reading Link URL gibberish read out. Link slash forty five sixty seven dot HTML.
Fail WindowEyes 8.4IE11 Tabbing Image URL gibberish read out. Link twelve thirty four.
Fail VoiceOver macOS 13.6Safari 16.6 Reading Link URL gibberish read out. Link, four thousand five hundred and sixty-seven HTML.
Fail VoiceOver macOS 13.6Safari 16.6 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Link, four thousand five hundred and sixty-seven HTML.
Fail VoiceOver macOS 12.5Safari 15.6 Reading Link URL gibberish read out. Link, four thousand five hundred and sixty-seven HTML.
Fail VoiceOver macOS 12.5Safari 15.6 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Link, four thousand five hundred and sixty-seven HTML.
Fail VoiceOver macOS 11.5Safari 15.0 Reading Link URL gibberish read out. Link, four thousand five hundred and sixty-seven HTML.
Fail VoiceOver macOS 11.5Safari 15.0 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Link, four thousand five hundred and sixty-seven HTML.
Fail VoiceOver macOS 10.15Safari 14.1 Reading Link URL gibberish read out. Link, four thousand five hundred and sixty-seven HTML.
Fail VoiceOver macOS 10.15Safari 14.1 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Link, four thousand five hundred and sixty-seven HTML.
Fail VoiceOver macOS 10.14Safari 13.0 Reading Link URL gibberish read out. Link, four thousand five hundred and sixty-seven HTML.
Fail VoiceOver macOS 10.14Safari 13.0 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Link, four thousand five hundred and sixty-seven HTML.
Fail VoiceOver macOS 10.13Safari 12.1 Reading Link URL gibberish read out. Link, four thousand five hundred and sixty-seven HTML.
Fail VoiceOver macOS 10.13Safari 12.1 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Link, four thousand five hundred and sixty-seven HTML.
Fail VoiceOver macOS 10.12Safari 10.1.2 Reading Link URL gibberish read out. Link four five six seven HTML.
Fail VoiceOver macOS 10.12Safari 10.1.2 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Link four five six seven HTML.
Fail VoiceOver macOS 10.11Safari 9.1.2 Reading Link URL gibberish read out. Link four five six seven HTML.
Fail VoiceOver macOS 10.11Safari 9.1.2 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Link four five six seven HTML.
Fail VoiceOver macOS 10.10Safari 8.0.6 Reading Link URL gibberish read out. Link four five six seven HTML.
Fail VoiceOver macOS 10.10Safari 8.0.6 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Link four five six seven HTML.
Fail VoiceOver macOS 10.9Safari 7.0.3 Reading Link URL gibberish read out. Link four five six seven HTML.
Fail VoiceOver macOS 10.9Safari 7.0.3 Tabbing Link URL gibberish read out. Link four five six seven HTML.
Fail VoiceOver iOS 16.6Safari iOS 16.6TouchLink URL read out: no indication of link purpose. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven HTML, link.
Fail VoiceOver iOS 15.6Safari iOS 15.6TouchLink URL read out: no indication of link purpose. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven HTML, link.
Fail VoiceOver iOS 14.7Safari iOS 14.7TouchLink URL read out: no indication of link purpose. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven HTML, link.
Fail VoiceOver iOS 13.3Safari iOS 13.3TouchLink URL read out: no indication of link purpose. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven HTML, link.
Fail VoiceOver iOS 12.4Safari iOS 12.4TouchLink URL read out: no indication of link purpose. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven HTML, link.
Fail VoiceOver iOS 11.4Safari iOS 11.4TouchLink URL read out: no indication of link purpose. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven HTML, link.
Fail VoiceOver iOS 10.3Safari iOS 10.3TouchLink URL read out: no indication of link purpose. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven HTML, link.
Fail VoiceOver iOS 9.1Safari iOS 9.1TouchLink URL read out: no indication of link purpose. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven HTML, link.
Fail VoiceOver iOS 8.4Safari iOS 8.4TouchLink URL read out: no indication of link purpose. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven HTML, link.
Fail VoiceOver iOS 7.1Safari iOS 7.1TouchLink URL read out: no indication of link purpose. Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven HTML, link.
Fail Dolphin SR 15.05IE11 Reading No indication of link purpose Link
Fail Dolphin SR 15.05IE11 Tabbing No indication of link purpose. Link
Fail SaToGo 3.4.96.0IE11 Reading No indication of link purpose Link
Fail SaToGo 3.4.96.0IE11 Tabbing No indication of link purpose. Link

SortSite rules: AccHtmlLinkTextBlank

Test notes

All tests were carried out with screen reader factory settings. JAWS in particular has a wide variety of settings controlling exactly what gets spoken.

Screen readers allow users to interact in different modes, and can produce very different results in each mode. The modes used in these tests are:

  • Reading Content read using the “read next” command in a screen reader
  • Tabbing Content read using the “tab” key in a screen reader
  • Heading Content read using the “next heading” key in a screen reader
  • Touch Content read when touching an area of screen on a mobile device

In the “What the user hears” column:

  • Commas represent short pauses in screen reader voicing
  • Full Stops represent places where voicing stops, and the “read next” or “tab” or “next heading” command is pressed again
  • Ellipsis … represent a long pause in voicing
  • (Brackets) represent voicing that requires a keystroke to hear