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How to write alt text for product images

Published · 5 min read

On a product page, the photos do a lot of the selling. A shopper who uses a screen reader doesn't see them; they hear the image's text alternative, its "alt text", instead. If there is none, they may hear the file name, or just "image". This article shows what to write for product photos, what to leave out, where to add it in Shopify and WooCommerce, and how to check your work.

Why it matters

Alt text is covered by WCAG success criterion 1.1.1 Non-text Content: images that carry information need a text alternative that serves the same purpose. Missing alt text is also one of the most common failures on the web: the WebAIM Million 2026 report found it on 53.1% of the top million home pages.

For a store, the purpose of a product photo is to help someone decide whether to buy. Good alt text gives a screen reader user the details a sighted shopper gets from the picture.

What to describe

Describe the product and the details a shopper would look for, in one or two short sentences. Think about what is visible in this particular photo, not everything about the product.

  • The product and its type: "Linen apron", "Ceramic mug", "Leather ankle boots".
  • Details that matter for the choice: color, material, pattern, shape, what makes this variant different.
  • What this photo shows if it is one of several: the back, a close-up of the stitching, the product being worn or used.

Examples:

  • "Natural linen apron with two front pockets and a cross-back strap."
  • "Close-up of the apron's pocket, showing double stitching in contrasting thread."
  • "White ceramic mug with a speckled glaze and a wide handle, next to a teaspoon for scale."
  • "Brown leather ankle boots with a side zip and a low stacked heel, shown from the side."

Read it aloud. If it sounds like something a helpful shop assistant would say about the photo, it's probably right.

What to leave out

  • "Image of" or "photo of". Screen readers already announce that it is an image.
  • The file name. "DSC_0192.jpg" helps no one.
  • Keyword lists. "apron linen apron kitchen apron chef apron" is hard to listen to, and is not a description.
  • What the page already says next to it. If the price, the product name and the size are in the text right beside the photo, you don't need to repeat them all.
  • Very long descriptions. Keep it short. Shopify recommends 125 characters or less.

Decorative and repeated images

Not every image needs a description.

  • Decorative images (a background texture, a divider, a purely visual flourish) should have an empty alt attribute (alt=""), so screen readers skip them.
  • Images that repeat text right next to them, like an icon beside the word "Cart", don't need to say it again.
  • Images inside a link (for example a product card that links to the product) need alt text that makes sense as the link, usually the product name.

The W3C's alt decision tree walks through these cases step by step.

Alt text written by AI or an app

Some tools can suggest alt text automatically: Shopify's media editor may offer an AI-generated suggestion, and several apps and plugins do the same. These suggestions can save time, but they need a person to check them:

  • They describe what the image looks like, not what a shopper needs to know about the product.
  • They can get the product wrong, or miss the detail that makes this variant different.
  • They cannot know which images are decorative.

Treat an automatic suggestion as a first draft. In an audit, checking that text alternatives actually describe what product and content images show is one of the manual checks, because tools cannot judge it.

Where to add it

Shopify (see Adding alt text to media):

  1. In your Shopify admin, go to Products and open the product.
  2. Click a product image to open the media preview.
  3. Click Add alt text, write your text and click Save alt text.

Images added through the theme editor (banners, slideshows, image blocks) have their own alt text setting; see Shopify's guide to theme images.

WooCommerce product images are chosen from the WordPress Media Library (with Set product image on the product page), so their alt text lives there too:

  1. Go to Media → Library and click the image.
  2. In Attachment Details, fill in the Alt Text field.

See the WordPress Media Library documentation.

Checking your work

  • A free scan finds images with no alt text at all, and tells you on which pages. The scan isn't an audit, though: it can't judge whether alt text matches the image.
  • Only a person can judge whether the alt text you wrote is accurate and useful. Read your product pages with a screen reader (VoiceOver on a Mac or iPhone, NVDA on Windows) and listen to what a shopper hears.
  • Check again after bulk imports or new apps, which can add images without alt text.

Our method page explains what the automated checks cover and what a person checks in an audit.

Sources

This article is general information, not legal advice. For your obligations, talk to a lawyer.