The State of Alt Text: 2026 Benchmark
What 134 real page audits say about how the web actually handles alt text.
Between 27 February and 20 August 2026, the free Filikod checker audited 2,449 images across 134 page audits on 56 domains. 25.2% of images had no alt text, 37.3% had at least one quality issue and the average ALT Quality Score was 67.6 out of 100, with a median of 84.
of images have no alt text at all
average ALT Quality Score, median 84
of images have at least one issue
of pages have at least one image without alt
Breakdown by image status
2,449 images audited between 27 February and 20 August 2026, classified with the published scoring rules.
| Status | Images | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Correct | 1,535 | 62.7% |
| Missing | 618 | 25.2% |
| Duplicate | 195 | 8.0% |
| Generic | 58 | 2.4% |
| Too short | 43 | 1.8% |
| With at least one issue | 914 | 37.3% |
A web split in two
The grade distribution is frankly bimodal: 58 pages earn an A and 37 an F, while only 25 sit in the C, D and E range (B: 14). Sites either manage their alt text or ignore it completely; the average site barely exists. The gap between the mean (67.6) and the median (84) tells the same story, and 28 pages (21%) score a perfect 100.
The practical takeaway: if you have never audited, you are probably in the low cluster, and the 618 missing alt attributes in our data show where the fastest wins are. Adding alt text to images that have none moves a page score more than any other fix.
From measurement to fixing
An audit tells you where you stand; the fixing happens in your CMS. On WordPress, the free Filikod plugin runs the same scoring on your entire media library, then lets you filter by issue and edit alt text in bulk.
Methodology and limits
A bounded study is a citable study, so here are the bounds.
The sample
134 single-page audits on 56 unique domains, run through the free online checker between 27 February and 20 August 2026. One page per audit, up to 50 images each, decorative images excluded, deterministic classification with published rules.
The honesty box
People who audit their alt text already care about SEO, so the sample is self-selected and the real rate on the open web is probably worse than 25.2%. This benchmark describes audited pages; it makes no claim to represent the whole web.
Add your page to the dataset
Every audit feeds the next edition of this benchmark. Run your page through the free checker and see where you land against the 67.6 average.
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