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AI alt text suggestions

Optional alt text suggestions written for the page the image is on, using the AI provider you connected to WordPress. A person always approves.

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Overview

AI alt text suggestions are an optional helper, off by default. An administrator turns on Suggest alt text under Accessibility → Settings → AI. 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, a Suggest alt text button appears in two places: on each row of the Alt text screen, and in the Accessibility panel of an Image block in the editor, for users who can upload files. Click it and Lumtera asks your provider for up to three suggestions, best first, each under 150 characters. The reply can also say the image looks decorative.

Suggestions are written for the page, not only the picture. Lumtera sends a mid-size copy of the image with 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. On the Alt text screen, Use this copies a suggestion into the field; in the editor, Use sets the block's alt text. Either way, you check it and save.

Why it matters

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 you get

  • Suggestions use the caption, nearby heading and text, the post title and whether the image is a link.
  • 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 clicks Suggest.
  • Nothing is saved until a person reviews and accepts the text.

How it works

  1. Connect a provider in WordPress

    Use Settings → Connectors, then turn on AI suggestions in Lumtera's settings.

  2. Click Suggest

    In the alt text manager, ask for a suggestion for an image.

  3. Edit and accept

    Adjust the wording, then save it like any alt text.

Who it helps

  • 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.

  • Editors clearing a backlog

    Working through the Missing alt text tab goes faster when each row can offer a draft to check.

  • 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 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.
Image size
Lumtera sends the large, medium-large or medium version of the image when one exists and is under 4 MB, otherwise the original if it is under 4 MB. Larger files get an error message instead.
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
Asking for a suggestion needs permission to edit that image. Page context is taken only from posts the person asking is allowed to read.
What AI cannot do
AI can be wrong and cannot know your intent, and it does not recognize people reliably. Suggestions do not make a site compliant; each one needs a person to read it.

Questions

Something else on your mind? Contact support

Which WordPress version do I need?

AI suggestions use the AI Client built into recent WordPress releases. On older versions the option simply does not appear; the rest of Lumtera works from WordPress 6.6.

Is my content sent anywhere?

Only when someone clicks Suggest, 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 click on Suggest alt text sends 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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