WordPress · Accessibility · Image SEO
Alt text for every image, at provider cost.
AltGenie writes accessible, context-aware image descriptions inside WordPress using your own OpenAI or Gemini key. You pay the provider directly — no credits, no per-image markup.
Works on localhost and staging · 68 languages · WooCommerce and WP-CLI ready
Product page · Nordic Living · gallery 2
alt=“▍
Example generated alt text: Grey linen corner sofa with tan leather ottomans beneath an arc floor lamp01The problem
Nobody ever finishes writing alt text by hand.
Screen-reader users cannot perceive an image without it, and search engines cannot index what they cannot read. Under the ADA and the European Accessibility Act it has become a compliance question too.
30s
per image
What it takes to write a decent description by hand, assuming you know the subject.
80+ hrs
for 10,000 images
Which is why the backlog on most established sites simply never gets cleared.
0
images skipped
One bulk run covers the archive, and every new upload is described from then on.
02Audit first
Know what is missing before you spend anything.
The scanner walks your whole media library and reports a coverage score, broken down by post type — plus everything that is empty, duplicated, keyword-stuffed, or just the filename in disguise.
- Coverage score across the library and per post type
- Missing, empty and duplicate detection
- CSV export for client reporting
Accessibility scan
62%
Coverage across the media library
- Products78%
- Blog posts54%
- Landing pages41%
- Archive (2019–2023)22%
- Uncategorised uploads12%
10,240 images scanned
Export CSV03The output
A filename is not a description.
Context is the whole trick. These are the kinds of descriptions the plugin produces when it can see the page and the product data behind the image.
WooCommerce productsofa-nordic-grey-02.jpg
Before
alt=""After
Grey linen corner sofa with tan leather ottomans beneath an arc floor lamp
04The economics
Work out what you would actually pay.
Credit-based tools charge 2–5¢ per image. Bring your own key and the same work costs about 0.04¢ — because nobody is reselling AI capacity to you with a margin on top.
That is 5,000 images in total.
5,000 images at ~3¢ each, every year
$49 Pro licence + $2 of AI, paid to your provider
You keep
$99
in the first year
That is
2.9×
cheaper, and it repeats annually
Estimates, not quotes. Credit tools are priced here at 3¢ per image (they range from 2¢ to 5¢); AI usage is Gemini at list rate, so a site inside Google’s free tier pays less again. Provider rates change — check current pricing before budgeting.
Honestly
Hosted tools are easier to start with — you sign up and go. AltGenie asks you to create one API key first. If your library is small and setup time matters more than running cost, they are a reasonable choice. The maths above is why almost everyone else is better off here.
05What it does
Not just a description generator.
Find the gaps, fill them with context the model can actually use, check the quality, and hand a client something that proves the work.
Context-aware descriptions
Most tools send only the image. AltGenie also sends the page title, category, tags and SEO focus keyword — so the description knows what the page is actually about.
Real WooCommerce context
Product name, SKU, brand, attributes, price and gallery position. The third photo of a product is told to describe a different angle than the first.
Works on private and staging sites
It reads the file from your own disk. Hosted competitors need a publicly reachable URL and simply fail on staging, intranets and password-protected sites.
Bulk with a safety net
Thousands of images with pause and resume, a retry queue for failures, and rules that skip logos and icons.
Version history and rollback
Every generated description is versioned. Anything you dislike reverts in one click, and low-confidence results can wait in a review queue.
Quality scoring
Flags descriptions that are vague, keyword-stuffed, duplicated across images, or just the filename in disguise.
Image SEO beyond alt
Schema.org ImageObject data, an image XML sitemap, Open Graph and Twitter image tags, plus repair of missing alt attributes in already-rendered pages.
Page builders included
Gutenberg, Elementor, Divi, Beaver Builder, Bricks and YOOtheme — written into the builder’s own content, so it appears on the page.
Agency tooling
Multisite network settings, WP-CLI for very large libraries, and printable white-label reports carrying your own name and logo.
06Getting started
Four steps, about ten minutes.
01
Install the plugin
Upload it or install from WordPress.org. It runs on WordPress 5.8+ and PHP 7.4+.
02
Connect a key
Paste an OpenAI or Google Gemini key. Both are free to create. Or skip it entirely and run Demo Mode.
03
Scan the library
See your coverage score and exactly which images, pages and post types are missing descriptions.
04
Generate in bulk
Run the whole backlog in one pass. New uploads are described automatically from then on.
07Fits your stack
It reads from what you already run.
No new dashboard, and nothing leaving WordPress except the image itself.
Page builders
Gutenberg, Elementor, Divi, Beaver Builder, Bricks and YOOtheme. Text is written into the builder’s own content, so it shows on the page and not only in the media library.
Commerce context
WooCommerce product name, SKU, brand, attributes, price and gallery position feed the description — the difference between “a blue sofa” and something that helps somebody buy.
Languages and scale
68 languages with WPML and Polylang support, multisite network settings, and WP-CLI commands for libraries too large to run through a browser tab.
08Who it suits
Best value where credits hurt most.
Agencies
One licence covers every client site. Credit pricing punishes you for having many clients with large libraries; a flat licence does not.
WooCommerce stores
Catalogues are exactly where generic descriptions fail, and exactly where image search sends buyers.
Publishers
Years of archive images, one WP-CLI command. Bulk runs resume, so nothing depends on a browser tab staying open.
Not for you if you want zero setup and have a handful of images — a hosted tool will be less work, and we would rather say so.
09Questions
The things people ask first.
Do I need an API key? Isn't that complicated?
You need one key, once. Google’s AI Studio issues a Gemini key free in a couple of minutes, and the plugin walks you through it during setup.
It is a few minutes at the start in exchange for paying cost price forever instead of buying credits. If you would rather see it working first, Demo Mode needs no key at all.
Where does my data go?
Only to the AI provider you chose, and only when you ask for a generation. Your API key is encrypted before it is stored in your database.
Generated text is saved to the standard WordPress alt text field, so it stays on your site even if you remove the plugin.
What if the AI writes something wrong?
Every generation is versioned and reverts in one click. Low-confidence results can be held in a review queue for approval, and quality scoring flags anything vague, stuffed with keywords, or too long.
Does it work with my SEO plugin?
Yes. It reads the focus keyword from Yoast, Rank Math, All in One SEO and SEOPress to inform the description, and defers to them for Open Graph tags when they are already handling that.
Can I try it before buying?
Yes. Demo Mode runs the full workflow — scanner, bulk processing, history, reports — with placeholder text and no API calls, against your real library.
Fix your whole media library this afternoon.
One licence, your own AI key, and no per-image meter running in the background.