June 23, 2025
Editors in OpenCms now have the option of marking images as “decorative.” This causes screen readers to ignore them, thereby improving accessibility.
Optionally mark images as “decorative”
Images on a website are considered decorative if they do not convey any important information and serve only to enhance the visual design. In such cases, they should be marked as decorative. A clear distinction between decorative and content-relevant images is crucial for good accessibility.
A new optional field, “Decorative,” has been added as a checkbox to the current options “Image path,” “Title,” and “Copyright” for embedding images.
When the “Decorative” option is selected, the images are “hidden” in the HTML markup for screen readers. This hides not only the images themselves, but also the associated structures such as copyright notices or image captions. In addition, these elements are removed from tab navigation.
The slider element has also been extended so that slider images that are currently not visible are hidden from screen readers and screen navigation.
If the image shows something that is already described in the surrounding text or is not necessary for understanding the text, it should be marked as decorative.
Infographics, diagrams, or images that are important for understanding the text should be given a meaningful title. The image content should be described as precisely and concisely as possible (approx. 80 characters) so that people with visual impairments can also grasp the information it contains.
Note: The description supplements the text; it does not repeat it.
The following two sections each contain an image: in the first, it serves solely to illustrate the topic discussed in the text; in the second, it supplements the content of the text. Neither image is marked as decorative.
Testing the two sections with a screen reader illustrates why it is important to distinguish between decorative and content-relevant images. The first section shows the negative impact of images that are not marked as decorative on the experience of users who use a screen reader.
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