Image redundant alt
Moderate effortFound on 16% of audited stores.
Remove or empty the alt attribute on images whose caption or surrounding text already describes them, so screen readers don't announce the same information twice.
What it is
Every image on a web page can have an "alt" attribute — a short text description that screen readers announce aloud to blind or visually impaired shoppers. The "image-redundant-alt" issue means an image's alt text says exactly (or nearly) the same thing as visible text right next to it — for example, a product photo with alt="Red Running Shoes" placed directly beneath a heading that already reads "Red Running Shoes." Screen readers end up announcing the same phrase twice in a row, which is confusing and disorienting for shoppers who rely on them.
Why it matters
When screen reader users hear the same text repeated back-to-back, it wastes their time and creates a disjointed, unprofessional shopping experience — making them more likely to abandon your store. Accessibility failures like this can expose your business to legal risk under laws such as the ADA (US), the Equality Act (UK), and the European Accessibility Act (EU). Google's crawlers also read alt text: redundant, repetitive alt attributes are a low-quality signal that can dilute the value of your image SEO. Fixing this is a quick win that simultaneously improves the experience for assistive-technology users, reduces legal exposure, and keeps your image metadata clean for search engines.
How to fix it
- Identify images where the alt text duplicates adjacent visible text (e.g., a product name in a heading or caption that is identical to the alt attribute).
- For purely decorative images or images already described by surrounding text, set the alt attribute to an empty string (alt="") — do NOT remove the alt attribute entirely, as that causes a different accessibility error.
- For images that carry unique meaning not conveyed by surrounding text, rewrite the alt attribute to describe only the information the image adds beyond what the text already says.
- Check linked images (images inside anchor tags): if the link text already describes the destination, set alt="" on the image so the link purpose is announced only once.
- After editing, use a free browser extension such as axe DevTools or WAVE to re-scan the page and confirm the redundant-alt flag no longer appears.
- QA with an actual screen reader (NVDA on Windows or VoiceOver on Mac/iOS) by tabbing through the page to confirm the image area is either skipped (decorative) or announced once with useful information.
<img src="red-running-shoes.jpg" alt="" />
<!-- alt="" marks image as decorative when surrounding text (e.g. an <h2>) already says "Red Running Shoes" -->
<!-- For a linked image where the anchor text already describes the link: -->
<a href="/red-running-shoes">
<img src="red-running-shoes.jpg" alt="" />
Red Running Shoes
</a>Fix it on your platform
Pick your platform for the exact steps.
How to fix image redundant alt on Shopify
- For product images: go to Admin → Products → select the product → click the image → in the 'Image alt text' field, clear the text and leave it blank (Shopify stores this as alt="" in the rendered HTML).
- For theme images in sections/blocks: go to Online Store → Themes → Customize → select the section containing the image → find the 'Image alt text' or 'Alt text' field in the sidebar and clear it if the surrounding text already describes it.
- For images added in the rich-text editor (pages, blog posts): click the image in the editor → choose 'Edit alt text' → clear the field and save.
- For images hard-coded in Liquid theme files: go to Online Store → Themes → Edit code → locate the relevant .liquid file → find the img tag and set alt="" or use {{ image.alt | escape }} only when a meaningful unique alt exists.
- To audit all product image alt texts in bulk, export products via Admin → Products → Export, edit the 'Image Alt Text' column in the CSV, then re-import.
How to fix image redundant alt on WooCommerce
- For product images: go to wp-admin → Products → select the product → click the featured image or gallery image → in the WordPress Media Library panel on the right, find the 'Alternative Text' field and clear it (leave empty, not blank space).
- For images in page/post content: open the page in the Block Editor (Gutenberg) → click the image block → in the right sidebar under 'Alt text (alternative text)', clear the field; tick 'Mark as decorative' if available in your WP version.
- For images in the Classic Editor: click the image → click the pencil (edit) icon → clear the 'Alternative Text' field → Update.
- For theme or widget images: go to Appearance → Widgets or Appearance → Customize and find the image widget; clear its alt/title text field.
- Install the free 'Accessible Images' or 'WP Accessibility' plugin to bulk-audit and update alt attributes across the media library.
How to fix image redundant alt on BigCommerce
- For product images: go to Admin → Catalog → Products → select the product → Images & Videos tab → click the image thumbnail → clear the 'Alt Text' field → Save.
- For banner/carousel images in Page Builder: go to Storefront → My Themes → Customize → click the banner or image widget → find the 'Alt Text' field in the widget panel and clear it.
- For images added via the WYSIWYG editor on a page or blog post: click the image in the editor → click the image properties/edit icon → clear the 'Image Description (Alt Text)' field → OK → Save.
- For theme template images: go to Storefront → My Themes → Advanced → Edit Theme Files → locate the relevant .html or .handlebars file → find the <img> tag and set alt="".
How to fix image redundant alt on Wix
- In the Wix Editor, click the image on your page → click 'Settings' (the gear icon) → under 'What's in the image? (Alt Text)', clear the text field and leave it empty.
- For Wix Stores product images: go to the Wix Editor → click the product gallery → Manage Products → select the product → scroll to the product image → click 'Edit' and clear the alt/description field.
- For images in Wix blog posts: open the blog post editor → click the image → click the alt text icon (speech bubble) → clear the field.
- Note: Wix does not always render a true alt="" for blank fields on all image types; verify with axe DevTools after publishing.
How to fix image redundant alt on Wix Studio
- In Wix Studio, click the image element on the canvas → open the Properties panel on the right → find 'Alt Text' and clear the field if surrounding text duplicates it.
- For images inside CMS-connected repeaters or collections: go to the Content Manager → select the relevant collection → find the image field's associated alt-text field and clear redundant entries.
- Publish the site and re-test with axe DevTools browser extension to confirm the fix.
How to fix image redundant alt on Squarespace
- Click the image block on your page to select it → click the pencil (Edit) icon → go to the 'Design' or 'Content' tab → find 'Caption' or 'Filename' used as alt → switch to the 'Accessibility' or 'Alt Text' field (available in Squarespace 7.1) and clear it if the surrounding content already describes the image.
- For product images in Squarespace Commerce: go to Commerce → Inventory → select product → click the product image → find the 'Image Alt Text' field in the image dialog and clear it.
- For gallery blocks: click the gallery → Edit → click the pencil on each image → clear the 'Alt Text' field.
- Squarespace uses the image filename as a fallback alt if no alt text is set; rename image files to empty or generic names (e.g., decorative.jpg) to avoid filename-based redundancy.
How to fix image redundant alt on Webflow
- In the Webflow Designer, click the image element → in the right-side Element Settings panel (the gear icon tab), find the 'Alt Text' field → clear it and tick 'Decorative (empty alt)' if the surrounding text already describes the image.
- For CMS-bound images (e.g., product or blog images): go to the CMS Collection settings → find the image field → ensure the alt text field binding is not pulling in the same text that appears in a linked text field on the same page.
- For background images (CSS): these have no alt attribute by nature and require no action for this rule.
- Publish and verify with axe DevTools in your browser.
How to fix image redundant alt on Adobe Commerce (Magento)
- For product images: go to Admin → Catalog → Products → select the product → Images and Videos section → hover over the image → click the settings icon (pencil) → clear the 'Alt Text' field → Save.
- For CMS page or block images added via the WYSIWYG editor: Admin → Content → Pages (or Blocks) → select the record → Edit → click the image in the editor → click 'Image Properties' → clear the 'Image Description' (alt) field → Insert → Save.
- For images hard-coded in theme templates: locate the relevant .phtml or .html template under app/design/frontend/<Vendor>/<theme>/ → find the <img> tag → set alt="" or use an empty string variable → deploy static content.
- For widget images: Admin → Content → Widgets → select the widget → find the image settings and clear the alt text field.
How to fix image redundant alt on Magento Open Source
- Follow the same steps as Adobe Commerce (Magento) above; the admin panel paths and template locations are identical in the open-source edition.
- After editing theme .phtml files, run: php bin/magento cache:flush and php bin/magento setup:static-content:deploy to apply changes.
How to fix image redundant alt on PrestaShop
- For product images: go to Admin → Catalog → Products → select the product → Images tab → click the image → clear the 'Caption' field (used as alt text) for each language → Save.
- For CMS page images: Admin → Design → Pages → select the page → in the TinyMCE editor, click the image → Image Properties → clear the 'Alternative Description' field → OK → Save.
- For theme template images: edit the relevant .tpl file in /themes/<your-theme>/ → find the <img> tag → set alt="" → clear template cache under Admin → Advanced Parameters → Performance.
How to fix image redundant alt on BigCommerce for WP
- Product images are managed from the BigCommerce admin (see BigCommerce steps above); alt text set there flows through to the WordPress front end.
- For images added directly in WordPress pages or posts, follow the WooCommerce/WordPress steps above.
Does your site have this issue?
Run a free SEOLZ audit to find image redundant alt — and every other issue — across your whole site in minutes.
Scan my site freeFrequently asked questions
What is Image redundant alt?
Every image on a web page can have an "alt" attribute — a short text description that screen readers announce aloud to blind or visually impaired shoppers. The "image-redundant-alt" issue means an image's alt text says exactly (or nearly) the same thing as visible text right next to it — for example, a product photo with alt="Red Running Shoes" placed directly beneath a heading that already reads "Red Running Shoes." Screen readers end up announcing the same phrase twice in a row, which is confusing and disorienting for shoppers who rely on them.
Why does image redundant alt matter?
When screen reader users hear the same text repeated back-to-back, it wastes their time and creates a disjointed, unprofessional shopping experience — making them more likely to abandon your store. Accessibility failures like this can expose your business to legal risk under laws such as the ADA (US), the Equality Act (UK), and the European Accessibility Act (EU). Google's crawlers also read alt text: redundant, repetitive alt attributes are a low-quality signal that can dilute the value of your image SEO. Fixing this is a quick win that simultaneously improves the experience for assistive-technology users, reduces legal exposure, and keeps your image metadata clean for search engines.
How do I fix image redundant alt?
Remove or empty the alt attribute on images whose caption or surrounding text already describes them, so screen readers don't announce the same information twice.
Authoritative references
- How to fix this specific rule — Deque/axe (rule reference)
- WCAG 2 overview — W3C WAI
- Images & text alternatives — W3C WAI
- ARIA basics — MDN