Image links: inspect four HTML patterns

Fictional teaching examples. No page or image is fetched; no link or ranking result is verified.

An image without a link

The browser may request the image file, but there is no anchor destination. Reusing or hotlinking an image alone is not a clickable backlink to its creator’s page.

Source page: https://publisher.example/story
Image resource: https://images.example/atlas.svg

Example HTML, shown as text

<img src="https://images.example/atlas.svg" alt="Open the accessible transit atlas">

An image-only link with a purpose

The anchor points to the atlas page. The image alternative names the destination rather than its colors. The image file and link destination are different URLs.

Source page: https://publisher.example/story
Image resource: https://images.example/atlas.svg
Link destination: https://target.example/atlas

Example HTML, shown as text

<a href="https://target.example/atlas"><img src="https://images.example/atlas.svg" alt="Open the accessible transit atlas"></a>

An image-only link without a name

The anchor still exists, but empty alt and no link text leave its purpose unexplained. Provide a meaningful accessible name; adding keywords to the filename does not repair the link label.

Source page: https://publisher.example/story
Image resource: https://images.example/atlas.svg
Link destination: https://target.example/atlas

Example HTML, shown as text

<a href="https://target.example/atlas"><img src="https://images.example/atlas.svg" alt=""></a>

An image beside descriptive link text

The same anchor contains clear text, so empty alt can avoid repeating that name. Judge the complete anchor, not the alt attribute in isolation.

Source page: https://publisher.example/story
Image resource: https://images.example/atlas.svg
Link destination: https://target.example/atlas

Example HTML, shown as text

<a href="https://target.example/atlas"><img src="https://images.example/atlas.svg" alt=""> Explore the transit atlas</a>

An original visual-resource brief

Transit atlas brief: help a traveler compare step-free routes using a dated, documented dataset. Publish the diagram with a text table, methodology, source notes, version date and a correction contact. Offer a reusable image and a stable explanatory page under clear reuse terms. Suggested attribution should point to the explanation, not require a promotional anchor. Measure useful visits or corrections separately from observed citations; do not invent adoption or ranking results.