Stop decorative icons interrupting reading

What to change

Ask the supplier to separate decorative icons from icons that carry actual meaning or act as controls.

A worked example

Illustrative example

A decorative arrow after Contact us is silent, while a standalone Close dialog icon remains announced as a usable action.

How to check the result

Accept when decorative imagery does not clutter reading and every meaningful standalone icon still communicates its purpose or state.

A mistake to avoid

Suppressing all image descriptions indiscriminately can silence important controls along with the decoration that prompted the change.

Your action checklist

Use these checks to prepare a discussion with your team or supplier. Tick a check when you have recorded the decision or evidence, rather than when a feature has simply been promised.

Decisions to recordListen to a service card collection and contact panel with a screen reader. Record announcements that add no information beyond the adjacent text.Identify icons that do carry a state or action, such as a warning or close control. Confirm they retain a meaningful accessible description.Repeat after the supplier's adjustment. Check that removing decorative announcements did not also remove the labels of genuine icon-only actions.

Evidence, open questions and decisionsNext action and responsible role

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