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Use when reviewing image assets, markup, and CDN or build transforms related to Use <figure> and <figcaption> for image captions. Check encoded size, rendered size, loading strategy, and above-the-fold impact together.
Use when reviewing templates, rendered HTML, or shared components related to Implement accessible breadcrumb navigation. Validate the final browser-facing markup, not just the source framework abstraction.
Use when auditing metadata, crawlability, structured data, or indexability related to Implement valid BreadcrumbList schema. Verify the rendered HTML and HTTP response rather than relying only on source files.
Use when reviewing templates, rendered HTML, or shared components related to Declare UTF-8 character encoding. Validate the final browser-facing markup, not just the source framework abstraction.
Use when reviewing templates, rendered HTML, or shared components related to Set text direction for RTL languages. Validate the final browser-facing markup, not just the source framework abstraction.
Use when auditing a site's meta tag uniqueness, generating page-specific meta descriptions, or reviewing CMS templates that inject the same description globally.
Use when you need to find the 2-3 most popular and well-maintained npm packages relevant to a frontend checklist rule, validate they meet quality thresholds, and add them to the rule's frontmatter.
| name | figure-figcaption |
| description | Use when reviewing image assets, markup, and CDN or build transforms related to Use <figure> and <figcaption> for image captions. Check encoded size, rendered size, loading strategy, and above-the-fold impact together. |
| metadata | {"category":"images","priority":"medium","difficulty":"beginner","estimatedTime":"10","source":"frontendchecklist.io","url":"https://frontendchecklist.io/en/rules/images/figure-figcaption"} |
Using a <p> tag as a caption is invisible to assistive technology as an image description. The <figure>/<figcaption> pattern creates a machine-readable relationship between an image and its caption, which screen readers surface to users. It also communicates to search engines that the caption describes the image, supporting image SEO.
<figure> with <figcaption> as a direct child<figcaption> must be the first or last child of <figure><figure> is appropriate for images, code blocks, diagrams, and charts—not every imageScan the codebase for images with adjacent visible text that acts as a caption (e.g., a
or immediately below an describing it). Verify: 1) Such image-caption pairs are wrapped in
. 2) The caption text is inside a element. 3) is a direct child of . 4) The alt text on the is not identical to the text—they serve different purposes. Flag any followed by descriptive text that is not structured as figure/figcaption.For each image with an adjacent caption: 1) Wrap the and its caption text in a
element. 2) Move the caption text into a element inside . 3) Review the alt attribute—if the figcaption already fully describes the image for sighted users, the alt can be shorter or empty (alt="") only if the figcaption alone is sufficient for screen readers too; otherwise keep a concise alt. 4) Position as the first or last child of . Show the corrected HTML.Explain the semantic meaning of
and . The element represents self-contained content (an image, code sample, diagram) that is referenced from the main content but could be moved without affecting the document flow. provides a caption or legend for the figure. Screen readers announce the figcaption in association with the figure, giving users context. Without this markup, sighted users see a caption but screen reader users hear only the alt text with no indication that a visible caption exists.Review image assets, markup, and delivery configuration related to Use
and for image captions. Flag exact files or components where format choice, sizing, or loading behavior violates the rule, and describe how to confirm the fix in DevTools.For full implementation details, code examples, and framework-specific guidance,
see references/rule.md.
Rule page: https://frontendchecklist.io/en/rules/images/figure-figcaption