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AI alt text suggestions
Optional alt text drafts written for the page the image is on, for one image or many at once, from the AI provider you connected to WordPress. A person always approves.
Updated for Lumtera 1.2.2 and Lumtera Pro 1.1.1.
Overview
AI alt text suggestions are an optional helper, off by default. An administrator turns on Suggest alt text under Lumtera → Settings → AI suggestions. That screen shows whether WordPress has its built-in AI Client, which arrived in WordPress 7.0, and whether a connected provider can read images. If not, it links to Settings → Connectors.
Once it is on, Suggest alt text appears on each row of the Alt text screen and in the Lumtera Accessibility panel of an Image block in the editor, and the fix dialog for an alt text issue offers Draft with AI. Lumtera asks your provider for up to three suggestions, best first, each under 150 characters, written for the page the image is on. The reply can also say the image looks decorative. You check the text and save it.
To work through a backlog, select images on the Alt text screen, or choose Select all missing, then Suggest alt text. Images are sent one at a time, with progress, Pause and Stop, and the same request limit as single suggestions. Each draft appears in its image's field, marked as an AI draft that is not saved. Save one on its own, or tick "I have reviewed this draft" on each one you checked and choose Save all reviewed.
Why does it matter?
Good alt text depends on context: the same photo needs different words on a product page and in a news story. Generic AI captioning describes pixels, not purpose — and an accurate description of the wrong thing is still bad alt text.
What do you get?
- Suggestions use the caption, nearby heading and text, the post title and whether the image is a link.
- Ask for one image, or select many on the Alt text screen and get drafts one at a time, with progress, Pause and Stop.
- Runs through WordPress's own AI Client with the provider you connected — Lumtera stores no API keys and runs no servers.
- Off until an administrator turns it on; runs only when someone asks for a suggestion.
- Nothing is saved until a person saves the text, or ticks "I have reviewed this draft" and chooses Save all reviewed.
How does it work?
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Connect a provider in WordPress
Use Settings → Connectors, then turn on Suggest alt text under Lumtera → Settings → AI suggestions.
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Ask for drafts
Click Suggest alt text on one image, or select images on the Alt text screen (or Select all missing) and choose Suggest alt text.
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Review and save
Edit each draft and save it, or tick "I have reviewed this draft" on the ones you checked and choose Save all reviewed.
Who is it for?
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Stores with large catalogs
A suggestion that draws on the product page gives the editor a starting point to correct and save, instead of a blank field for every photo.
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Editors clearing a backlog
Select all missing on a page of the Missing alt text tab, let the drafts arrive one by one, then check and save them together.
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Sites that control where data goes
Requests go only to the provider the site owner connected in WordPress, which can be a model running on your own server.
Good to know
How it behaves, what it needs, and where its limits are.
- What is sent
- A copy of the image under 4 MB (the large, medium-large or medium size when one exists), its file name and caption and, from a post that shows it and that you can read, the title, the nearest heading, the nearby text and whether the image is a link.
- What the model is asked to do
- Describe what the image means on the page, include text in the image that matters, never start with "image of", and never guess who a person is unless the caption or page text names them. Lumtera also strips a leftover "image of" from replies.
- A record of AI-assisted text
- When alt text saved on the Alt text screen started as a suggestion, Lumtera records who accepted it and when. Saving your own text without a suggestion clears that record.
- Permissions and limits
- Asking for a suggestion needs permission to edit that image, and page context is taken only from posts the person asking can read. Each person can make 30 AI requests in 10 minutes; a bulk run pauses when the limit is reached and can be resumed.
- What AI cannot do
- AI can be wrong, cannot know your intent and does not recognize people reliably. Each draft needs a person to read it before it is saved.
Checks you will see here
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WCAG 1.1.1 · AError
Image has no alternative text
Questions
Something else on your mind? Contact support
Which WordPress version do I need?
AI suggestions use the AI Client built into WordPress 7.0 and later. On older versions the option is not available; the rest of Lumtera works from WordPress 6.6.
Is my content sent anywhere?
Only when someone asks for a suggestion, and only to the AI provider the site owner connected. Nothing is sent in the background.
Which providers work?
Any provider connected under Settings → Connectors with a model that accepts images and returns text, for example OpenAI, Anthropic, Google or a local model server. Lumtera shows "Ready" when a connected model can read images.
Does it cost anything?
Lumtera charges nothing for it. Your AI provider may bill for the requests under its own pricing; each image sent is one request.
Which page is used for context in the editor?
The post you are editing, as last saved. On the Alt text screen, Lumtera uses the first checked post that shows the image and that you can read.
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