ACT Rule 9eb3f6 · deprecated
Image filename is accessible name for image
Content management systems often fill in alt text with the file name when nobody wrote any. This rule flagged images whose accessible name was their source file name, so that a person could decide whether that name described the picture or just described the camera.
The rule has been withdrawn. W3C says it is no longer maintained and should not be used.
Why W3C withdrew this rule
W3C withdrew this one because the rule Image accessible name is descriptive supersedes it. That rule asks the same question of every image rather than only the ones whose name looks like a file name.
Use Image accessible name is descriptive instead. The underlying problem has not gone anywhere, and a report that still cites this rule id is running an old rule set, which is worth knowing about the tool that produced it.
The criteria it was written for
The rule named these as its conformance requirements while it stood. They have not gone anywhere, so start here and use the rules that are still maintained.
- 1.1.1 Non-text Content Level A
The normative rule text lives at W3C
What the rule applies to, and exactly what it expects, is published by W3C and can change. We link to it rather than restate it, so nothing here can quietly fall out of date against the source. Read rule 9eb3f6 at W3C.
Every control needs a name that assistive technology can read
Every control has a name that assistive technology reads out. It is not always the text you see. The browser works it out in a fixed order. An aria-labelledby reference wins first, then aria-label, then the element's own content or its associated label, then a title attribute as a last resort.
A screen reader user moving through a page by control hears these names and nothing else. If the name is empty, they hear only the role. A button with no name is a button with no idea what it does.
Icon-only buttons are the common case. The icon carries the meaning visually and leaves nothing behind for the name. The control announces as just a button with no function described.
Fixes that satisfy it
If this rule fails on your site, these are the techniques that put it right.
Other rules W3C files under the same criteria
Each of these asks a different question about the same part of the standard. Passing all of them is still not the same as satisfying the criterion.
- Element marked as decorative is not exposed A tool can check this
- Image accessible name is descriptive A tool finds candidates, you decide
- Image button has non-empty accessible name A tool can check this
- Image has non-empty accessible name A tool can check this
- Link has non-empty accessible name A tool can check this
- Object element rendering non-text content has non-empty accessible name A tool can check this
All 87 ACT rules are grouped by the criteria they test, and 24 of them decide nothing about WCAG on their own. Run a free scan to see which of these your own pages trip.