How to fix image redundant alt on WooCommerce

Steps for WooCommerce

1. 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).
2. 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.
3. For images in the Classic Editor: click the image → click the pencil (edit) icon → clear the 'Alternative Text' field → Update.
4. For theme or widget images: go to Appearance → Widgets or Appearance → Customize and find the image widget; clear its alt/title text field.
5. Install the free 'Accessible Images' or 'WP Accessibility' plugin to bulk-audit and update alt attributes across the media library.

<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.