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Figure or formula has no alternative text

Every image tagged as Figure in an accessible PDF needs alternative text (/Alt) or replacement text (/ActualText); the same applies to Formula tags. Images that carry no information should not be figures at all but artifacts. Acrobat reports missing text as “Figures alternate text – Failed”, PDF/UA checkers as rule 7.3-1 or 7.7-1.

Updated

Messages you may see

  • Acrobat Accessibility Checker: Figures alternate text - Failed (Figures require alternate text)
  • PDF/UA-1 (ISO 14289-1) rule 7.3-1: Figure tags shall include an alternative representation or replacement text that represents the contents marked with the Figure tag as noted in ISO 32000-1:2008, 14.7.2, Table 323
  • PDF/UA-1 (ISO 14289-1) rule 7.7-1: All mathematical expressions shall be enclosed within a Formula tag as detailed in ISO 32000-1:2008, 14.8.4.5 and shall have Alt or ActualText attributes
  • PDF/UA-2 (ISO 14289-2) rule 8.2.5.28.2-1: A Figure structure element shall have at least one of the following properties: a) an alternate description (Alt property), as specified in ISO 32000-2:2020, 14.9.3; b) a replacement text (ActualText property) that represents the content enclosed by the Figure structure element
  • PDF/UA-2 (ISO 14289-2) rule 8.2.5.29-1: The math structure type shall occur only as a child of a Formula structure element
  • Matterhorn Protocol 1.1, 13-004: Figure tag alternative or replacement text missing.
  • Matterhorn Protocol 1.1, 17-002: Formula tag is missing an Alt attribute.

What the rule requires

PDF/UA-1 (ISO 14289-1) handles graphics in clause 7.3 and mathematical expressions in clause 7.7. Automated checkers test:

  • Rule 7.3-1: every Figure structure element has an /Alt entry (a description) or an /ActualText entry (the exact text shown, for example a word set as an image).
  • Rule 7.7-1: every Formula structure element has /Alt or /ActualText.

PDF/UA-2 (ISO 14289-2) has the same requirement for figures in rule 8.2.5.28.2-1. For formulas, rule 8.2.5.29-1 adds that MathML math elements may only appear inside a Formula element.

In the Matterhorn Protocol 1.1, missing text is failure condition 13-004 (checkpoint 13, Graphics) and 17-002 (checkpoint 17, Mathematical expressions). Several related conditions need human judgement: 13-001 (a meaningful graphic is not tagged as Figure at all), 13-005 (ActualText used where alternative text is more appropriate) and the question whether the text actually describes the image.

The machine check only sees whether text is present. “image1.png”, “Picture” or a copied file name pass the check and help nobody. A purely decorative image should be an artifact rather than a Figure with meaningless text.

Why it matters

Screen readers announce a figure without alternative text as “graphic” or skip it. Blind users then miss everything the image conveys: the trend in a chart, the route on a map, the signature block on a scanned form, the content of an organisational chart. For formulas, screen readers may read out scattered symbols or nothing at all.

Alternative text also helps people who use read-aloud functions because of dyslexia or low vision, and it is shown as a tooltip in Acrobat. WCAG success criterion 1.1.1 (Non-text Content) requires a text alternative for every meaningful image; the W3C technique PDF1 shows the /Alt entry, PDF4 the artifact for decorative images.

Common causes

  • Images, charts or logos were inserted without alternative text in the source document.
  • In InDesign, the alt text source is left at From Structure without an XML structure, so no text is exported.
  • Automatic tagging in Acrobat created Figure tags for decorative lines, backgrounds or empty frames. Adobe's help notes that Acrobat may tag artifacts as figures.
  • Charts were pasted as pictures from a spreadsheet, losing the description.
  • Mathematical expressions were exported as images or text fragments without a Formula tag and description.
  • Alternative text was placed on a parent element. Adobe's help warns that alternative text on a parent tag prevents screen readers from reading its child tags, which Acrobat reports as “Nested alternate text”.

Example

12 0 obj
<< /Type /StructElem /S /Figure /P 3 0 R
   /Pg 20 0 R /K 7 >>
endobj
Failing: Figure without /Alt or /ActualText
12 0 obj
<< /Type /StructElem /S /Figure /P 3 0 R
   /Alt (Bar chart: applications per year, rising from 1,200 in 2021 to 2,050 in 2025.)
   /Pg 20 0 R /K 7 >>
endobj
Fixed: Figure with a description
/Artifact BMC
  q 450 0 0 2 72 600 cm /Im3 Do Q
EMC
Decorative line drawn as artifact instead of Figure
40 0 obj
<< /Type /StructElem /S /Formula /P 33 0 R
   /Alt (a squared plus b squared equals c squared)
   /Pg 21 0 R /K 3 >>
endobj
Formula with alternative text

How to fix it

Microsoft Word

  1. Right-click the picture, chart or shape and choose View Alt Text (Office 2019 to 2024: Edit Alt Text). Alternatively select it and choose Alt Text on its format tab, for example Picture Format.
  2. In the Alt Text pane, describe content and purpose in one or two sentences.
  3. For purely decorative objects, check Mark as decorative (Office 2019 to 2024: Decorative). The text box is then greyed out.
  4. Save as PDF with Document structure tags for accessibility checked.

Some Office versions can generate alt text automatically. Review generated text before export; in Microsoft 365 you can switch the feature off under File > Options > Accessibility.

Adobe InDesign

  1. Select the image frame and choose Object > Object Export Options. The dialog can stay open while you move from image to image.
  2. On the Alt Text tab, set Alt Text Source to Custom and enter the description, or choose an XMP source if the image metadata already contains a suitable description.
  3. For decorative objects, open the Tagged PDF tab instead and set Apply Tag to Artifact.
  4. Anchor images in the text flow at the point where they are referenced, so the description is read at the right place.
  5. Export with Create Tagged PDF.

Adobe Acrobat Pro

  1. Choose All tools > Prepare for accessibility > Add alternate text. Acrobat detects all figures and shows them one after the other.
  2. In the Set Alternate Text dialog box, enter a description for each figure. Current versions also offer a checkbox to mark a figure as decorative; Acrobat then treats it as an artifact. Select Save & Close.
  3. Alternatively, use Fix reading order: right-click a highlighted figure and choose Edit Alternate Text. Or select the Figure tag in the Accessibility tags panel, choose Properties and enter Alternate Text.
  4. For formulas, select the Formula tag in the Accessibility tags panel, open Properties and enter the alternate text.
  5. Run the check again and also review “Nested alternate text” and “Associated with content”.

Check your PDF

Upload the fixed file to see which machine-checkable criteria it meets now. The report lists the remaining problems with their pages.

Open the checker

Questions

How long should alternative text be?
As short as possible while still conveying the content; Adobe's help also recommends keeping descriptions concise. For complex charts, give a short description in the alternative text and the data or key findings in the body text or a table.
Should I start with “Image of …”?
No. Screen readers already announce that the element is a graphic. Start with what the image shows or means.
When is ActualText the right choice?
When the image shows text, for example a word set in a decorative typeface or a scanned signature line with a name. ActualText then contains exactly that text. For everything else, use Alt.

Sources

  1. ISO 14289-1:2014 Document management applications – Electronic document file format enhancement for accessibility – Part 1: Use of ISO 32000-1 (PDF/UA-1) – International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Checked on 7 November 2026.
  2. ISO 14289-2:2024 Document management applications – Electronic document file format enhancement for accessibility – Part 2: Use of ISO 32000-2 (PDF/UA-2) – International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Checked on 7 November 2026.
  3. The Matterhorn Protocol 1.1 – PDF Association. Checked on 7 November 2026.
  4. Matterhorn Protocol checks (list of checkpoints and failure conditions) – PDF Association (Tagged PDF School). Checked on 7 November 2026.
  5. PDF1: Applying text alternatives to images with the Alt entry in PDF documents – W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WCAG 2.2 Techniques). Checked on 7 November 2026.
  6. PDF4: Hiding decorative images with the Artifact tag in PDF documents – W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WCAG 2.2 Techniques). Checked on 7 November 2026.
  7. Create and verify PDF accessibility, Acrobat Pro – Adobe (Acrobat User Guide), 23 July 2025. Checked on 7 November 2026.
  8. Edit document structure with the Content and Tags panels (Adobe Acrobat Pro) – Adobe (Acrobat User Guide), 3 May 2025. Checked on 7 November 2026.
  9. Reading Order tool for PDFs (Adobe Acrobat Pro) – Adobe (Acrobat User Guide), 9 May 2025. Checked on 7 November 2026.
  10. Add alternative text to a shape, picture, chart, SmartArt graphic, or other object – Microsoft Support. Checked on 8 November 2026.
  11. Creating accessible PDFs – Adobe (InDesign User Guide), 24 May 2023. Checked on 7 November 2026.