Logo Alt Text: 12 Real Examples From Live Sites
By AutoBoost Team · 2026-10-29 · 5 min read
Half of the 12 logo alt texts we collected had a fault, and the most common one was a file name standing in for a description. We read the home pages of 63 well-known UK and US sites on 29 October 2026. 17 blocked us, and many others draw their logo as inline code rather than an image, so there was nothing to read. That left 12 logo images from 11 sites that we could quote exactly, each copied from the page source as it was served that day.
Key takeaways
- 6 of the 12 logos were wrong in a way a screen reader user would notice.
- Three logos read out a file name, including
klarna.svgandCNN-Headlines-International-logo-v2.png.- The two good alt texts that had words were 26 and 30 characters, and both named the brand.
- An empty alt is correct when the brand name sits right beside the logo as text. Wikipedia does this.
Twelve logos, quoted as served
| Site | Alt text | Characters | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia | empty | 0 | Good. The name "Wikipedia" is the page heading next to the logo, so nothing is lost. |
| IKEA | empty | 0 | Fine. The link around the logo is labelled "IKEA Home" instead. |
| John Lewis | John Lewis & Partners Home | 26 | Good. Brand name plus where the link goes. |
| Screwfix | Screwfix Logo | 13 | Fine. The word "Logo" adds nothing. |
| Nationwide (footer) | Nationwide. A good way to bank | 30 | Good. It matches the words in the image. |
| Virgin Media (header) | Virgin Media logo | 17 | Fine. The word "logo" adds nothing. |
| Virgin Media (menu) | VM_Logo_White_optimised_large | 29 | Fault: file name. Same logo as the header, with a different alt. |
| O2 | O2 Logo White | 13 | Fault: describes colour, not meaning. |
| Wickes (footer, ways to pay) | klarna.svg | 10 | Fault: file name. |
| CNN | CNN-Headlines-International-logo-v2.png | 39 | Fault: file name, with version number. |
| Next | Go to the homepage for clothes and more | 39 | Fault: the brand name is missing. |
| John Lewis (Nintendo Switch logo in a banner) | This is a logo for Nintendo switch | 34 | Fault: filler words ("This is a logo for"). |
Brand name first, then where the link goes
The good examples share three habits.
- They name the brand. John Lewis says "John Lewis". Nationwide says "Nationwide". Someone who cannot see the logo still learns whose site this is.
- They say where a linked logo goes. A header logo is nearly always a link to the home page. John Lewis adds "Home", and IKEA puts "IKEA Home" on the link itself.
- They copy the words inside the image. Nationwide's footer logo carries a slogan, and the alt text carries it too.
Several things are absent from the good ones, and that matters just as much.
- Colour. O2's "Logo White" tells a screen reader nothing useful. The colour is a style choice for a dark header.
- File names and version numbers.
klarna.svgandVM_Logo_White_optimised_largeare what a CMS fills in when nobody edits the field. - "Image of" or "this is a logo for". The screen reader already announces an image.
- A description of the artwork. Nobody needs to hear "red square with white letters".
When the brand is already written next to the logo
If the name appears beside the logo as text, use an empty alt. Wikipedia does this, and it stops the name being read twice. IKEA reaches a similar result by labelling the link "IKEA Home" instead. Do not leave the attribute off altogether. An empty alt is a decision. A missing alt is a gap.
File names, colours and a banner that is not a logo
Counted from the table, 6 of 12 logos had a fault.
- File name used as alt text: 3 (Virgin Media menu, Wickes, CNN).
- Describes colour: 1 (O2).
- Brand name missing: 1 (Next).
- Filler words: 1 (the Nintendo Switch row).
That last row needs a note. It is not John Lewis's own logo. It is a Nintendo Switch logo inside a promo banner on the John Lewis home page, and its alt text opens with the filler "This is a logo for". The other 6 logos were good (3) or fine (3). The fine ones either said "logo" when they did not need to, or used an empty alt with the label placed on the link.
Length told us little. The 10 logos with alt text ranged from 10 to 39 characters, with a middle value of 27.5. The three file names were 10, 29 and 39 characters, so a short or long text is not proof of anything. The two longest, both 39 characters, were a file name (CNN) and a line that left out the brand name (Next). Under 30 characters is plenty for a brand name and a word or two.
Virgin Media shows a different trap. It has the same logo twice on one page, with two different alt texts: "Virgin Media logo" in the header and a file name in the mobile menu.
Tip: check every copy of the logo
Logos are uploaded once and forgotten, so the media library keeps whatever name the file arrived with. Search your own pages for each place the logo appears, as in the Virgin Media case, and read the alt text on every copy. Icons and hero images have the same trouble, and our guides to icon alt text and hero banner alt text cover it. The main guide to adding alt text in bulk explains the full process.
The free AutoBoost SEO plugin joins your WordPress site to the AutoBoost SEO app. Missing alt text for the images in your posts is written there in bulk, and you check each one before it saves to the post and the media library. For a logo, compare the draft with the list above.