Check the alt text on every product image
Enter a Shopify store’s address. The checker reads its public catalog and sorts every product image by what a screen reader would hear, then links each product to the place you fix it.
Writing alt text that works
Alt text is the description a screen reader reads in place of a picture. On a product page it is how a shopper who cannot see the photos learns the color, the material and what comes in the box.
Describe what the picture shows in 5 to 15 words. Give each angle its own description. Leave out “image of”, since screen readers announce the image already.
- Brown leather belt coiled on a wooden table, brass buckle facing upIn place of
DSC03344: a camera file name. - Close-up of the belt's stitched edge and five brass studsIn place of
Western Leather Belt: the product title, on every photo. - Model wearing the belt with dark jeans and a white T-shirtIn place of
Product image: a placeholder.
What the checker reads
Every Shopify store answers public questions about its catalog through the Storefront API. The checker asks it for each product’s images and the alt text stored on them, for products published to the online store, up to the first 1,000.
The requests go from your browser straight to the store, and the results stay on this page. Add ?store= and an address to the page link to share a result.
It reads what Shopify stores, which is where a description belongs. What a shopper hears also depends on the theme, which can print the description, drop it, or print the product title in its place. SiteRemora checks the rendered page for that, and the fix there is a change to the template.
Whether a description fits its picture takes a person to judge. The checker finds the images that need one.
More free checks are on the free tools page.
Attach a remora to your shop
Install from the App Store. The first scan is free, takes about a minute, and tells you exactly where you stand.