AI Alt Text Generator for WordPress documentation

A guide to AI Alt Text Generator: connecting your AI account, writing alt text one by one, in bulk and on upload, reviewing suggestions, the settings and the cost.

Documents version 1.0.0Updated Oct 24, 2026

About AI Alt Text Generator for WordPress Download the PDF(PDF, 1.8 MB)

Start here

In plain words: Missing alt text hurts your accessibility and your image SEO, and writing it by hand for hundreds of pictures never happens. AI Alt Text Generator looks at each image, with the title of the page it belongs to, and writes the alt text (and, if you want, the title, the caption and the description) in the language you choose. Do it one image at a time, for new uploads automatically, or in bulk with a progress bar; keep the results as suggestions to review if you prefer.

The Media Library with its alt text column, the coverage report and the review list.

Tip: It uses your own AI account (OpenAI-compatible or Anthropic), so you stay in control of the model and of the cost.

What you get

Feature	What it does
Reads the image	The image is resized and sent to a vision model; the file name and the title of the page that uses it help it to be precise.
Three ways to work	A button on each image, a bulk run on every image without alt text, or automatically in the background on each new upload.
Review before saving	Optionally keep the texts as suggestions: edit them, accept or skip.
Coverage report	How many images have an alt text, how many are missing, to review or failed; a column in the Media Library shows each image.
Your language and your voice	Write in Arabic, French, English... and add your own instructions (brand name, what to mention).
Also title, caption, description	Fill them only when they are empty (the title only when it is just the file name).
Keeps what you wrote	Images that already have an alt text are left alone unless you ask to replace it.
Cost control	Image size sent, a limit on the length of the answer, a daily request limit and a usage table.
Privacy	E-mail addresses and phone numbers in the context are masked; the key can live in wp-config.php.
Arabic	The plugin is translated into Arabic and works right to left.

Requirements

Item	Details
WordPress	6.0 or newer
PHP	7.4 or newer
Also	The PHP image library GD or Imagick (WordPress already needs one)
An AI provider	An account and an API key with an OpenAI-compatible service (OpenAI, OpenRouter, Azure, a local server such as Ollama...) or with Anthropic. You pay your provider for what you use; the plugin has no usage fees.
License	GPL-2.0-or-later

Install

Unzip the package you downloaded. Inside is ai-alt-text-generator-for-wordpress.zip (do not unzip this one).
In WordPress open Plugins → Add New Plugin → Upload Plugin, choose ai-alt-text-generator-for-wordpress.zip and press Install Now.
Press Activate Plugin.
Open Settings → AI Alt Text Generator → AI connection, choose your provider, paste your API key and press Test the connection.

Connect your AI

In plain words: The plugin works with your own AI account. In Settings → (this plugin) → AI connection choose the provider, paste the key and press Test the connection: a green message tells you that the model answered.

Field	Meaning
Provider	OpenAI-compatible (OpenAI, OpenRouter, Azure, Groq, Ollama, LM Studio...) or Anthropic.
API address	Leave empty for the official address. For another service enter it, for example `http://localhost:11434/v1`.
API key	Stored in your database (never shown again). You can define it in `wp-config.php` instead and the field disappears.
Model	The model name at your provider. A small, cheap model is enough for most tasks.
Maximum answer length	Caps the tokens of one answer, so a request cannot cost more than you expect.
Daily limit	The number of requests the plugin may make per day (0 = no limit). When it is reached the plugin stops asking until tomorrow.
Privacy	Hides e-mail addresses, phone numbers and card-like numbers before the text is sent.

Tip: The table Recent use at the bottom of the tab shows the requests, the errors and the tokens of the last days.

The AI connection tab after a successful test.

Tip: Pick a model that can read images (a vision model). Most current models from OpenAI and Anthropic can.

Choose how it works

In plain words: Settings → AI Alt Text Generator. The options are in plain words: when to write (new uploads), what happens to the result (save it, or keep it as a suggestion), what to do with images that already have a text, which extra texts to fill, the language, the style, the longest alt text, the size of the image sent and your own instructions.

Option	Meaning
New uploads	Writes the alt text of each new image in the background, a few seconds after the upload.
What happens to the result	Save it on the image, or keep it as a suggestion until you accept it.
Images that already have a text	Leave them, or replace them.
Language of the texts	Empty = the language of the site. Or write Arabic, French...
Longest alt text	In characters; the text is shortened on a word boundary.
Context	Sends the file name and the title of the page that uses the image.
Your instructions	For example: the shop is called Bloom; name the product when you can recognise it.

One image at a time

In plain words: Open an image in the Media Library (the details window or the edit screen) and press Write with AI next to the alternative text. The field is filled at once. When you press the button, the text is replaced even if the image already had one.

Many images at once

In plain words: Media → AI Alt Text shows the coverage of your library and a button Write alt text for N images. The images are sent one at a time and you can Stop at any moment; what is done stays done. To work on a few images only, tick them in the Media Library list and choose the bulk action Write alt text with AI.

The coverage report and the bulk button.

The Media Library list shows the alt text of each image, or Missing.

Review before saving

In plain words: If you chose Keep it as a suggestion until I accept it, the results wait on the page Media → AI Alt Text. Change the text if you want and press Accept, or Skip to throw it away. Nothing is saved on the image before you accept.

Suggestions with a thumbnail, an editable alt text and an editable title.

Keep the cost low

Tip	Why
Use a small, cheap vision model	Alt text is a simple task.
Choose the small image size	A smaller picture means fewer tokens.
Keep “leave them as they are”	Images that already have a text are never sent.
Set a daily limit	The plugin stops by itself when it is reached.
Review first on a few images	Use the bulk action on a selection, check the style, then run the rest.

Privacy

In plain words: Using an AI model means sending text to your provider. The image (resized), its file name and the title of the page that uses it are sent. E-mail addresses, phone numbers and card-like numbers are masked first (an option, on by default). Nothing is sent to Taqnix. Mention your AI provider in your privacy policy: the plugin adds a suggested paragraph in Settings → Privacy.

Important: AI can be wrong. Treat what it writes as a draft and read it before you publish it.

Who can do what

Who	Can
Administrators	Change the settings and the AI connection.
Anyone who can upload files (authors, editors...)	Write alt text for the images they can edit, run the bulk tool, accept or skip suggestions.
Others	Nothing: the AJAX actions check the permission and a security token.

Arabic and right to left

Limits

Limit	Detail
Image types	JPEG, PNG, GIF (first frame) and WebP. SVG and PDF are not described.
Accuracy	A model can misread an image. Use the review mode for important pages.
Text inside images	The model reads it when it can, but it is not an OCR tool.
Existing alt texts	Not translated or rewritten unless you choose to replace them.

For developers

In plain words: Skip this chapter if you only use the plugin.

// Describe one image (returns the texts, or a WP_Error)
$result = TQAL_Generator::instance()->generate( $attachment_id );

// Change what is sent to the model, and what is saved
add_filter( 'tqal_system_prompt', function ( $prompt, $id ) {
	return $prompt . "\nThe images show furniture: name the material and the colour.";
}, 10, 2 );
add_filter( 'tqal_result', function ( $res, $id ) {
	$res['alt'] = mb_substr( $res['alt'], 0, 100 );
	return $res;
}, 10, 2 );

// The key can live in wp-config.php
define( 'TQAL_AI_KEY', 'sk-...' );

Troubleshooting

Problem	What to do
Add your AI provider and API key	Open the AI connection tab, choose the provider, paste the key and press Test the connection.
The AI service answered 401	The key is wrong or has no access to the model.
The AI service answered 404 or 400	The model name is wrong, or the model cannot read images.
Nothing happens on upload	New uploads are processed by WP-Cron a few seconds later: visit the site, or trigger WP-Cron from a real cron job.
The image could not be found	The file is missing on the server (for example after a migration).
The texts are in the wrong language	Set the language of the texts in the settings.

Updating and removing

Install the new zip over the old one in Plugins → Add New Plugin → Upload Plugin (WordPress offers to replace the current version), or replace the folder ai-alt-text-generator-for-wordpress by FTP. Your settings and the alt texts already written are kept. To remove the plugin, deactivate and delete it: its settings are removed with it.

Support

Installation help and bug fixes are included for 6 months, with lifetime updates. Contact us through the marketplace page where you bought the plugin or write to support@taqnix.com with your WordPress version, the plugin version and a screenshot.