WCAG 1.4.9 — Images of Text (No Exception)

What this requires

Images of text are only used for pure decoration, or where a particular presentation of text is essential to the information being conveyed. Logotypes remain exempt. There is no other exception. This is a stricter version of 1.4.5; the AA criterion exempts customisable text, AAA does not.

How AI coding tools fail this

Same failure shapes as 1.4.5, with the AA exemption removed: AI tools that export headlines, pull-quotes, statistics, or chart labels as images. At AAA, "we wanted this particular font" is not a reason. Web fonts deliver the same visual.

The exception worth knowing: stylised text that demonstrates the text itself (a typography sample, a calligraphy demonstration, a ransom-note design where the visual mixing is the content) genuinely needs to be an image, and remains exempt as "presentation essential".

Failing examples

A stat card with the numbers baked into an image:

<img src="/stat-card-revenue.png" alt="Revenue: $2.1M" />

A chart legend exported as a single PNG:

<img src="/chart-legend.png" alt="Chart legend showing revenue and cost" />

Passing examples

Stat cards as live text:

<dl className="grid grid-cols-3 gap-4">
  <div>
    <dt className="text-sm text-muted-foreground">Revenue</dt>
    <dd className="font-display text-3xl font-bold">$2.1M</dd>
  </div>
  {/* ... */}
</dl>

Chart legend as real text alongside the chart:

<figure>
  <Chart data={series} />
  <figcaption>
    <ul className="flex gap-4">
      <li className="flex items-center gap-2">
        <span aria-hidden="true" className="h-3 w-3 rounded-full bg-red-700" />
        Revenue
      </li>
      <li className="flex items-center gap-2">
        <span aria-hidden="true" className="h-3 w-3 rounded-full bg-blue-700" />
        Cost
      </li>
    </ul>
  </figcaption>
</figure>

Edge cases

Logotypes still exempt. Even at AAA, your wordmark can be a stylised image.
"Essential presentation" is narrow. A book cover where the typography conveys the design intent of the book itself is essential. A marketing headline that happens to use a special font is not.
Charts with embedded labels should be SVGs with selectable text or have an accompanying data table.
Screenshots of UI that contain text fall on either side of this depending on context. A tutorial documenting a third-party UI is exempt; a marketing screenshot meant to communicate a feature benefit usually needs a text equivalent.
Web fonts have closed most of this gap. There's almost no visual a designer can achieve in an image that can't be reproduced in CSS today.

How Jeikin handles this

Same approach as 1.4.5. The scanner flags large images and asks the reviewer to mark each as "contains text", "logotype", "essential", or "decorative". The dashboard maps each finding to the right criterion (1.4.5 at AA, 1.4.9 at AAA) based on the project's compliance target.

References

W3C — Understanding 1.4.9 Images of Text (No Exception) (opens in new tab)