Which statement best defines a decorative image under WCAG guidance?

• A. Providing information and functionality.
• B. Serving only aesthetic purpose, providing no information and having no functionality.
• C. Must have descriptive alt text.
• D. Being clickable.

Answer: (B)

Decorative images are those that exist purely to decorate the page and do not convey information or provide any function. Under WCAG, such images should be ignored by assistive technologies, meaning they don’t add content or meaning for users of screen readers. The way to signal this is to use an empty alt attribute (alt=""), so assistive tech knows not to announce them.

That is why the statement describing a decorative image as serving only an aesthetic purpose, providing no information and having no functionality is the best fit. Images that do convey information or have a purpose should provide descriptive alt text so all users get the meaning. An image that is clickable implies an interaction or function, which means it isn’t merely decorative.