How to fix avoid inline spacing on Shopify

Steps for Shopify

1. Go to Online Store → Themes → Actions → Edit Code.
2. Search all `.liquid` template files and section files for `style=` attributes containing `line-height`, `letter-spacing`, `word-spacing`, or spacing-related `margin`/`padding` on text elements.
3. Cut the offending property out of the inline `style` attribute and add a CSS class to that element instead (e.g. `class="product-body"`).
4. Open `assets/base.css` (or your theme's main CSS file) and define the spacing rule there under that class name.
5. If a section's inline style is generated dynamically by a section schema setting (e.g. a 'Text size' range input), edit the schema to remove that setting or render it as a CSS variable applied via a stylesheet rule rather than a raw inline style.
6. For third-party apps injecting inline spacing, contact the app developer or use the Theme editor's Custom CSS box (Online Store → Themes → Customize → Theme Settings → Custom CSS) to add an overriding rule — though the real fix requires the app to stop emitting inline styles.

<!-- BEFORE: inline spacing blocks user overrides -->
<p style="line-height: 1.4; letter-spacing: 0.05em;">Product description text</p>

<!-- AFTER: spacing lives in the stylesheet, users can override it -->
<p class="product-description">Product description text</p>

/* In your stylesheet */
.product-description {
  line-height: 1.4;
  letter-spacing: 0.05em;
}

What is avoid inline spacing?

Inline spacing refers to CSS properties like `line-height`, `letter-spacing`, `word-spacing`, and `margin-top`/`padding-top` (used to control text block spacing) that are written directly inside an HTML element's `style="…"` attribute rather than in a separate stylesheet. When these values are hard-coded inline, a user's browser or assistive-technology stylesheet cannot override them — even when that user has set their own spacing preferences to make text readable. WCAG 2.1 Success Criterion 1.4.12 ("Text Spacing") requires that users can adjust those four specific spacing properties without losing content or functionality.

Roughly 1 in 5 people have a disability that affects how they read text, and many of them rely on custom browser stylesheets or accessibility extensions that increase letter spacing, line height, or word spacing to make text legible. When your store hard-codes those values inline, their overrides are silently blocked, making your content unreadable for those shoppers — driving them directly to a competitor. Beyond lost sales, WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance (which includes SC 1.4.12) is the baseline required by accessibility laws in the EU (EAA), UK (PSBAR), Canada (AODA), and increasingly enforced in the US under the ADA. Non-compliance exposes your business to legal complaints, demand letters, and lawsuits.

See the complete Avoid inline spacing guide for every platform and the full background.