About this plugin
Simpli Auto Alt Text is a lightweight WordPress plugin that automatically generates image alt text from filenames when images are uploaded to your website.
Adding meaningful alternative text to images is an important part of making website content more accessible. However, manually entering alt text for every uploaded image can be time-consuming.
Simpli Auto Alt Text helps simplify this process by converting image filenames into readable text and automatically saving the result in the WordPress Media Library.
The plugin works during the standard WordPress image upload process, requires no additional configuration, and preserves existing non-empty alt text.
Key Features
- Automatic Alt Text Generation: Generate alt text from image filenames during the WordPress media upload process.
- Filename Formatting: Convert hyphens, underscores, and periods into spaces to make filenames easier to read.
- Readable Capitalization: Automatically format generated text using title-case capitalization.
- Preserves Existing Alt Text: Existing non-empty image alt text is never overwritten.
- Image-Only Processing: Only image attachments are processed. Other media files are ignored.
- No Configuration Required: Activate the plugin and start uploading images without configuring additional settings.
- Lightweight Functionality: Uses built-in WordPress functions and hooks without requiring external APIs.
- No Bulk Modifications: Previously uploaded images remain unchanged.
How Simpli Auto Alt Text Works
When you upload an image, WordPress generates attachment metadata. Simpli Auto Alt Text uses this process to generate readable alt text from the uploaded filename.
The plugin:
- Detects when WordPress generates image attachment metadata.
- Checks whether the attachment is an image.
- Checks whether the image already contains non-empty alt text.
- Extracts the image filename without its extension.
- Replaces hyphens, underscores, and periods with spaces.
- Normalizes spacing and capitalizes the resulting words.
- Saves the generated text in the standard WordPress image alt text field.
Example Filename Conversions
- summer-beach_vacation.2024.jpg becomes Summer Beach Vacation 2024
- beautiful-mountain-view.png becomes Beautiful Mountain View
- red_sports_car.jpg becomes Red Sports Car
- my--photo___best.png becomes My Photo Best
Who Can Use This Plugin?
Simpli Auto Alt Text can be useful for:
- Bloggers who regularly upload images to their articles.
- Website owners who want a simple starting point for image alt text.
- Content creators who manage image-heavy websites.
- WordPress developers who want automatic filename-based alt text generation.
- Site administrators who want to reduce repetitive manual image metadata entry.
Works With the WordPress Media Library
The plugin uses the standard WordPress attachment metadata workflow and stores generated alt text in the _wp_attachment_image_alt field.
Generated alt text can be viewed and manually edited through the WordPress Media Library.
The plugin does not modify image files, change attachment titles or captions, or process previously uploaded images.
Important Accessibility Note
Alt text generated from filenames is only a starting point. A filename does not always accurately describe an image or its purpose.
For better accessibility, review the generated text and adjust it to describe the image in its actual context. Decorative images may require intentionally empty alt text.
Simple and Lightweight
Simpli Auto Alt Text focuses on one task: automatically filling missing image alt text from filenames when new images are uploaded.
No external AI services, API keys, additional accounts, or complex configuration are required.