5709a7858d5c197721be66d5218a79124abadb70
lrnassar
  Tue Mar 17 08:46:31 2026 -0700
Adding alt text to images across static documentation pages, CGI headers, markdown docs, and Pandoc templates. Content images receive AI-generated descriptive alt text; decorative images (icons, spacers, toggles) receive alt="" per WCAG best practice. Also adds Image Descriptions section to the accessibility page, and fixes Pandoc Lua writers to output alt attributes. 67 files, covering help docs, news archive, ENCODE pages, portal pages, and session examples. refs #37254

diff --git docs/GBpandocHTMLrules.lua docs/GBpandocHTMLrules.lua
index 399bd370814..c0a9e679045 100644
--- docs/GBpandocHTMLrules.lua
+++ docs/GBpandocHTMLrules.lua
@@ -1,22 +1,22 @@
 -- Function to create an HTML image tag with a given src and width
 function add_image(src, width)
   -- Ensure src and width are provided
   if src == nil or width == nil then
     error("Error: src or width is nil in add_image")
   end
-  return string.format('<img src="%s" width="%s">', src, width)
+  return string.format('<img alt="" src="%s" width="%s">', src, width)
 end
 
 -- Function to detect and process code blocks with class "image"
 function CodeBlock(el)
   -- Check if the code block is tagged with the class "image"
   if el.classes[1] == "image" then
     -- Extract src and width from the code block text
     local src = el.text:match("src=(%S+)")
     local width = el.text:match("width=(%S+)")
     
     -- Ensure that both src and width are captured
     if src and width then
       return pandoc.RawBlock("html", add_image(src, width))
     else
       error("Error: src or width not found in block")