How to fix image redundant alt on BigCommerce
Remove or clear the alt text on images whose description is already provided by visible text immediately surrounding them, so screen readers don't read the same information twice.
Steps for BigCommerce
- Go to Storefront → My Themes → click 'Edit Theme' (Stencil CLI) or use the Page Builder for supported blocks.
- For product card images, open templates/components/products/card.html in your Stencil theme via Stencil CLI or the built-in editor.
- Find the <img> tag inside the product card anchor. If the card also renders the product name as visible text in the same anchor or card, change the alt attribute to alt="" (an empty string).
- For the product detail page, open templates/pages/product.html and apply the same change to the main product image <img> tag if the product name h1 is in close proximity.
- Run stencil bundle and push the theme update, or save via the editor. Clear the CDN cache if applicable.
- Verify with axe DevTools browser extension on a live product and category page.
What is image redundant alt?
Every image on a webpage can carry an "alt" attribute — a short text description that screen readers announce to blind or low-vision shoppers instead of (or in addition to) showing the image. When an image sits right next to visible text that already says the exact same thing — for example, a product photo inside a link that also contains the product name — a screen reader will read that description twice in a row. This is called "redundant alt text." The fix is to make the image's alt attribute empty (alt="") so the screen reader skips the image and only reads the visible text once, giving a clean, natural experience.
Screen reader users — a significant and legally protected segment of shoppers — hear redundant information announced back-to-back, which is confusing and frustrating, and can cause them to abandon your store. Accessibility failures like this create legal exposure under the ADA (USA), the European Accessibility Act (EU), and similar laws worldwide, which have already resulted in costly lawsuits against online retailers. Beyond legal risk, accessibility is a known quality signal: Google's Lighthouse tool flags these issues and they contribute to a lower accessibility score, which can indirectly affect rankings. Fixing this issue is low effort and directly improves the shopping experience for customers using assistive technology.
See the complete Image redundant alt guide for every platform and the full background.
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