This post explains a common issue encountered when trying to summarize or analyze online articles: the supplied page contains only an image entry and no machine-readable text.
The short message the user received is a prompt asking them to either paste the article text directly or provide a different link that includes the full written report, so that a clear summary can be produced.
Why an “image-only” page prevents summaries and analysis
Many automated systems and human editors rely on machine-readable text to extract facts, produce summaries, and index content for search engines.
When a page contains only an image of text (for example, a photograph of a printed article, a screenshot of a news page, or a scanned PDF), the underlying characters are inaccessible to text-processing tools.
Image-only content breaks workflows for summarization, SEO, translation, and accessibility because screen readers and text parsers cannot “read” the words embedded in a bitmap image.
That’s why the reply you saw asked for either the article text or a different link containing the written report.
Why this matters for accessibility, SEO, and research
Beyond the immediate inconvenience, image-only pages have broader implications.
Search engines and academic indexing systems cannot index content they cannot parse, which reduces discoverability.
Likewise, users who rely on assistive technologies will be unable to access the information without additional accessibility features.
Practical steps to resolve the problem
If you encounter the same message, there are straightforward ways to provide the required content and avoid delays.
Below are recommended actions for both content requesters and publishers to ensure text is usable by automated tools and accessible to people.
Follow the checklist below to make content machine-readable and user-friendly.
Immediate actions you can take
If you need a quick summary or analysis, consider these options:
Best practices for publishers and authors
To prevent this issue at the source, content creators should adopt accessible publishing standards.
Publishing platforms and authors should ensure text is preserved as text, not only as images, and provide alternative access paths.
Here are a few best-practice recommendations:
Here is the source article for this story: Pakistan Extreme Weather Floods