Decorative Images…

…aren’t a thing. At least not as far as people are concerned. Yes, this is an absolutist take, but sometimes it’s necessary to take the absolutist position to force someone to justify their own reasoning. Make them argue for something they’ve not considered. Revisit their own decision-making process. Broadly, I’m talking about images in narrative content that are not also iconography nor used as part of interactive controls. Adding an image to a design, email, document, page, app, etc. is done for a reason. Maybe the author wants to convey a mood or connect it to a theme. In which case, the person who can’t see the image would likely benefit from knowing that mood, having that connection made. Sometimes the reason is far more pedestrian. Maybe the author wants to fill white space. In which case, that’s a design gap. It should be addressed in layout, otherwise the author is unintentionally sending a message to those who can see it. I’m not discussing every possible scenario. That’s…