Guide
Alt text done right for Shopify product images
Alt text is the short text alternative that a screen reader announces in place of an image. On a Shopify store, missing or poor alt text is one of the most common accessibility barriers — and one of the most fixable.
This guide covers how to write it well and how to address it across a whole catalog.
What good alt text says
Describe the meaningful content and function of the image, not its file name. For a product photo, the product name and key visual detail usually suffice; avoid stuffing keywords or starting with 'image of'.
Decorative images that add no information should have an empty alt attribute so screen readers skip them, rather than reading clutter.
Why it matters beyond accessibility
Clear alt text helps disabled shoppers complete a purchase, and it also gives search engines a textual handle on your imagery, which can support discovery.
It is a rare case where doing the accessible thing and the SEO-friendly thing are the same task.
Fixing it at scale with Remedify
Remedify finds images that lack a text alternative and proposes alt text for each, written back through the Shopify data layer once you approve it.
Every write-back is a change you confirm, and it is captured in your dated remediation record so you can show exactly what was improved.