In web projects, images may sometimes fail to load due to various reasons. This can negatively impact the user experience. While it’s common to handle such cases using JavaScript, a simple CSS trick can also provide a quick and effective solution.

img {
  position: relative;
  width: 300px;
  height: 300px;
  margin-left:auto;
  margin-right:auto;
  object-fit: cover;
  display: block;
}

img:before {
  content: "The image could not be loaded.";
  position: absolute;
  inset: 0;
  display: flex;
  align-items: center;
  justify-content: center;
  background: #000;
  text-align: center;
  font-family: Arial;
  font-size:18px;
  color: red;
}

By controlling image loading with CSS, you can both improve page load speed and reduce the need for extra JavaScript.

Full example