svg-text-alternative-present

<svg> must provide a text alternative

Checks that inline <svg> elements provide a text alternative via a <title> element or an ARIA name (a <desc> element alone does not count).

Applies to. Applies to inline <svg> elements that are exposed to assistive technologies AND appear intended to be conveyed. "Intended to be conveyed" is approximated deterministically by at least one of:

• role="img", role="graphics-symbol", or role="graphics-document" on the SVG root element itself (the WAI-ARIA Graphics Module roles, alongside img). Does NOT extend to arbitrary role="img"/"graphics-symbol"/"graphics-document" descendants nested inside an <svg>. This check's scope is the <svg> root only; role-img-text-alternative-present covers those same three roles on any other element, including nested SVG shapes (ACT 7d6734's own failed example: a bare `<svg>` root with a nested `<circle role="graphics-symbol">`).
• aria-label / aria-labelledby present
• <title> or <desc> present (desc alone is an applicability signal only, see @expectation)
• focusable/tabbable (e.g., tabindex, native focusability)

Images with role="presentation" or role="none" are excluded only when they are not focusable. Elements otherwise hidden from the accessibility tree remain applicable if they are tabbable-focusable or referenced by IDREF relationships (per engine eligibility checks).

Expectation. Each applicable <svg> element provides a text alternative via:

• non-empty <title> text, OR
• an ARIA name (aria-label / aria-labelledby).

A <desc> element alone does NOT satisfy this, per the SVG Accessibility API Mappings spec §7.1, <desc> only ever contributes to the accessible DESCRIPTION, never the accessible NAME. An <svg> with only a <desc> and no <title>/ARIA name is still "applicable" (desc signals authorial intent) but fails.

Examples

<svg role="img"><title>Close</title></svg>

<svg role="img"></svg>

Related rules

• svg-text-alternative-quality

View source