Alt text for product images: a working checklist

Alt text is the written description attached to an image. Screen readers read it aloud to people who can’t see the picture, and search engines use it to understand what the image shows. On most Shopify stores, a large share of product images have none at all, or just repeat the product title.

Why it matters

• Accessibility. For a shopper using a screen reader, an image without alt text is a gap in the page. For product photos, that gap is often the colour, the fit or the detail they needed.
• Image search. Google relies on alt text, along with the surrounding page, to understand images and rank them in image results.
• AI assistants. Models that read your pages get one more accurate, plain-language fact about the product.

The checklist

1. Describe what’s actually in the image. “Model wearing light blue linen trousers with rolled cuffs, side view” beats “Linen trousers”.
2. Include the details a shopper would want. Colour, material, angle, what’s being shown (front, back, close-up of the fabric).
3. Keep it concise. One clear sentence, usually under about 125 characters, which is where some screen readers start to break things up.
4. Make each image different. Five photos of the same product should have five descriptions that say what’s different about each shot.
5. Skip “image of” and “picture of”. Screen readers already announce that it’s an image.
6. Don’t stuff keywords. Describe the image, not what you want to rank for. If the product name fits naturally, use it.
7. Leave decorative images empty. Background textures and divider graphics should have empty alt text (alt="") so screen readers skip them.

<!-- Weak -->
<img src="shirt-2.jpg" alt="linen shirt linen shirts mens linen">

<!-- Better -->
<img src="shirt-2.jpg" alt="Beige relaxed-fit linen shirt with mother-of-pearl buttons, laid flat">

Where images hide on Shopify

Product photos are the obvious ones, but they’re not the only images on your store:

• Collection images
• Blog article images
• Files you’ve uploaded to the Files library
• Theme images like banners, slideshows and section images set in the theme editor

Product image alt text is set from the product’s media in Shopify admin. Theme images are set in the theme editor, image by image, which is why they’re the ones most often left blank.