AMSTERDAM — Yoast introduced an artificial intelligence-powered feature to automatically generate alt text for product images within its Yoast WooCommerce SEO plugin, enhancing accessibility and search engine optimization for e-commerce sites globally.
The new AI Generate feature, released with Yoast WooCommerce SEO 17.0 and Yoast SEO 28.8, creates descriptive alt text by analyzing product data, focus keyphrases, and the image itself, the company said.
This integration helps online retailers meet accessibility requirements, particularly those enforced in the European Union and the United Kingdom, while also improving image search rankings.
Users can deploy the AI functionality directly within the product editor for individual items or use a Bulk Editor for catalog-wide corrections, Yoast stated. This allows for efficient management of large product inventories.
To use the new feature, websites must run Yoast WooCommerce SEO 17.0 (or Yoast SEO AI+), Yoast SEO 28.8 or higher, and WordPress 7.0 or newer. Each product also requires a defined focus keyphrase to enable the AI generation process.
Supported image formats for the AI alt text generation include PNG, JPEG, WEBP, and non-animated GIF files, the company reported.
Yoast confirmed that the AI image alt text feature is included at no additional cost for users of Yoast WooCommerce SEO and Yoast SEO AI+.
The 28.8 release of Yoast SEO also introduced new Yoast Abilities, allowing AI agents to control various SEO settings, and added support for Schema Feeds.
Source: Yoast
