How to fix image alt on Squarespace
Add descriptive alt text to every meaningful image, and mark purely decorative images with an empty alt attribute or role="presentation".
Steps for Squarespace
- Click any image block on your page → click the pencil/edit icon → in the image editing panel, click the 'Accessibility' tab (or scroll to the 'Alt Text' field) → type your description → Apply.
- For product images: Commerce → Inventory → [Product] → click an image in the Media section → the 'Alt Text' field appears on the right side of the Media Library.
- For gallery blocks: click the gallery → Edit (pencil) → click any individual image → edit the 'Alt Text' field in the image detail view.
- Squarespace does not auto-populate alt text from image filenames, so every image needs a manual entry unless you use a third-party SEO tool.
What is image alt?
Every `<img>` element on a web page should carry an `alt` attribute that describes what the image shows or does. This text is read aloud by screen readers for visitors who are blind or have low vision, and it appears in place of the image when it fails to load. Meaningful images (products, banners, infographics) need a short, accurate description. Purely decorative images (background shapes, dividers, icons used only for visual flair) should have an empty `alt=""` or `role="presentation"` so screen readers skip them entirely. WCAG Success Criterion 1.1.1 "Non-text Content" requires this for all conformance levels (A, AA, AAA).
Missing alt text directly harms your store in three ways. First, it excludes customers who rely on screen readers — they cannot understand what your products look like, which damages conversions and exposes you to legal risk under accessibility laws (ADA Title III in the US, EAA in Europe, AODA in Canada). Second, search engines like Google read alt text to understand and index your images; missing alt text means your product and category images are invisible to image search, costing you free organic traffic. Third, automated accessibility audits flag missing alt text as a critical failure, and regulators, plaintiff attorneys, and audit tools surface it prominently — making it one of the highest-priority issues to address on any ecommerce site.
See the complete Image alt guide for every platform and the full background.
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