How to fix image redundant alt on Shopify

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.

Steps for Shopify

  1. 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).
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
Official Shopify documentation ↗
<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>

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.

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.

See the complete Image redundant alt guide for every platform and the full background.

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