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Treat null-like labels as missing to avoid rendering "thumbnail: null", and add helper/view/feature specs to verify thumbnail alt text stays present and resilient across key render paths. Made-with: Cursor
haitzlm
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Apr 10, 2026
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This looks like an excellent update, replacing missing or unhelpful alt text with meaningful, which increases compatibility with new accessibility guidelines
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Summary
This PR improves thumbnail accessibility by ensuring thumbnail images have meaningful
alttext across Hyrax/Blacklight render paths, including fallback and featured collection thumbnails.Why
Some thumbnail images were rendered with weak/missing descriptions (or marked as presentational), which reduced the usefulness of those images for screen reader users.
What Changed
ApplicationHelper:thumbnail_alt_text_for(record)"null") as missing to avoid output likeCollection thumbnail: null.CatalogHelper#render_thumbnail_tag.image_tag.Accessibility Impact
Risk / Notes
Rollback
Revert this PR to restore prior thumbnail alt text behavior.
Affects thumbnails on the index pages only:


Uses the alt text "Collection Thumbnail: {name of collection}" or "Work Thumbnail: {name of work}" on index pages only.

Does include index page of works inside a collection:

Does not affect images inside individual collections:
