SC 1.4.9 Level AAA WCAG 2.0
Images of Text (No Exception)
AAA-level: images of text are not allowed at all, except logos and essential cases (a screenshot demonstrating typography). The 1.4.5 "customizable" exception is removed.
What it asks
Like 1.4.5, but stricter: even images of text that the user could in theory customize are not acceptable at AAA. Only two exceptions remain: logotypes (brand wordmarks) and essential images (a screenshot of a UI being discussed, a historical document being analyzed). Everything else must be real text.
How to meet it
- Render all promotional copy, button labels, headings, and pricing as HTML text.
- For brand wordmarks, mark them as essential — they’re exempt.
- For screenshots used as evidence (a tutorial showing how a button looks), they’re essential and exempt; provide alt text.
- Replace any “customizable” image-of-text widget with a real CSS-styled HTML version.
Common failures
- Marketing banners with all copy baked into JPEGs.
- “Choose your color / font” image previews shipped as raster images instead of CSS-rendered samples.
- Pricing cards as static images.
Why it matters
AAA, rarely required, but worth knowing when an SOW says “WCAG AAA where applicable.” Meeting 1.4.5 cleanly already eliminates almost all images of text — closing the 1.4.9 gap is mostly a logo-handling cleanup.