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VC007 – Image Alignment Check

Overview

Validates images: alt text presence, non-broken src, alignment between schema and DOM image URLs, and reasonable image count.

Probability that AI systems use this signal: Crawlers and generative AI pipelines consume structured and visible page signals for training and inference. Assessment-specific signals (e.g. schema, canonicals, trust cues) affect how likely a page is indexed and surfaced. The probability that this assessment's signal influences AI behavior is high when the page is in a product or compliance context.

Impact on geo compliance: Passing this assessment supports geo compliance by ensuring machine-readable and visible content meet standards that reduce the risk of wrong locale, pricing, or trust in AI-generated answers. Failing can lead to non-compliant or misleading surfacing.

What We Check

  • SD009 must be passed. Schema images from Product/ProductGroup image (string or list). DOM: all img with src and alt.
  • No images (schema + DOM): pass ("images are optional").
  • **Missing alt:** −50 per image without alt.
  • **Broken src:** empty src or src starting with "data:" counted; −30 per broken.
  • **Schema vs DOM mismatch:** normalized URL (scheme+netloc+path, lower) for schema set; DOM imgs not in set counted; −15 per mismatch.
  • **Excessive images:** total DOM images > 10: −10.

Pass / Fail and Score

  • **PASSED** if score >= 60.

How to Fix When It Fails

  • Add alt text; fix broken image sources; align schema image URLs with DOM; consider reducing image count.

Common Issues

  • Missing alt, broken or data-only src, schema/DOM URL mismatch, too many images.

Dependencies

SD009 (Alt Text Image Consistency).

How to Verify

  • Check each img has alt and valid src; compare Product.image with img src; count images.

Additional Resources

  • schema.org Product.image; WCAG images