Alt Text for Accessibility: ADA Compliance for Shopify Stores

If you run a Shopify store, you've probably heard that alt text is important for SEO. But there's another reason to care about it — one that could save you from an expensive lawsuit.

Alt text is a core requirement for web accessibility. Without it, your store may violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), putting you at risk of legal action and excluding millions of potential customers.

In this guide, we'll explain what alt text is, why it matters for accessibility and compliance, and how to write it properly for your Shopify products.

What Is Alt Text?

Alt text (short for alternative text) is a written description of an image that lives in your website's HTML code. It serves two main purposes:

Accessibility. Screen readers — software used by visually impaired people — read alt text aloud so users can understand what an image shows. Without it, they miss critical information.

SEO. Search engines can't "see" images. They rely on alt text to understand what your images contain and how to rank them in search results.

When an image fails to load (due to slow internet or technical issues), the alt text appears in its place, giving users context about what they're missing.

For Shopify stores full of product images, alt text isn't optional — it's essential.

Why Alt Text Matters for ADA Compliance

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law in 1990 to prevent discrimination against people with disabilities. While the law originally focused on physical spaces, courts have increasingly interpreted it to include websites as "places of public accommodation."

This means your Shopify store must be accessible to everyone, including people with visual impairments.

Here's what you need to know:

Lawsuits are increasing. In 2024 alone, there were over 4,600 ADA website accessibility lawsuits filed in the United States. E-commerce sites are among the most frequent targets.

Settlements are expensive. The average ADA website lawsuit settlement ranges from $25,000 to $75,000. Some cases cost even more when they go to court.

Missing alt text is a common violation. When lawyers look for accessibility issues, missing or inadequate alt text is one of the first things they check. It's an easy target because it's easy to prove.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) — the international standard for web accessibility — specifically require text alternatives for all non-decorative images. Meeting WCAG 2.1 Level AA is considered the benchmark for ADA compliance.

The Business Case for Accessible Alt Text

Beyond avoiding lawsuits, there are solid business reasons to prioritize accessibility:

Reach more customers. People with disabilities represent a massive market. Globally, the disability community controls approximately $2.6 trillion in disposable income. If your store isn't accessible, you're leaving money on the table.

Improve SEO. Descriptive alt text helps search engines understand your images, which can improve your rankings in both regular search results and Google Images. Nearly 19% of Google search results now include images.

Better user experience. Alt text helps all users, not just those with disabilities. When images don't load due to slow connections, alt text provides context so visitors still understand your content.

Build brand trust. Accessibility shows you care about all customers. It's good ethics and good business.

How to Write Effective Alt Text

Writing good alt text isn't complicated, but there are best practices to follow:

Be Descriptive and Specific

Describe what's actually in the image using clear, concrete language. The goal is to help someone who can't see the image understand what it shows.

Bad: "Shirt"

Good: "Men's navy blue button-down Oxford shirt with white buttons"

Bad: "Product photo"

Good: "Women's gold hoop earrings, 2-inch diameter, worn on model"

The more specific you are, the more useful your alt text becomes for both accessibility and SEO.

Keep It Concise

Most screen readers cut off alt text after about 125 characters. Aim for 5-15 words that capture the essential details without unnecessary fluff.

You don't need to describe every tiny detail — focus on what matters most for understanding the image in context.

Include Relevant Keywords Naturally

Alt text is a legitimate place to include keywords, but only if they fit naturally. Describe the image accurately first, then incorporate keywords where they make sense.

Good: "Organic cotton baby onesie in light pink with snap closures"

Bad: "Baby clothes organic baby onesie pink onesie best baby clothes cotton onesie"

Keyword stuffing hurts both user experience and SEO. Search engines can detect unnatural keyword cramming and may penalize your site.

Don't Start With "Image of" or "Picture of"

Screen readers already announce that content is an image before reading the alt text. Starting with "Image of..." creates redundancy — users hear "Image, image of..." which is annoying and wastes time.

Just get straight to the description.

Consider Context

Your alt text should relate to the surrounding content. Think about why the image is on the page and what users need to understand from it.

For product images, include details that help shoppers make decisions: color, size, material, style, and how the product is being used or displayed.

Handle Decorative Images Properly

Not every image needs descriptive alt text. Purely decorative images — like background patterns or visual dividers — should use an empty alt attribute (alt=""). This tells screen readers to skip the image entirely.

But be careful: most product images are NOT decorative. If an image provides information that helps users understand your products, it needs real alt text.

Alt Text Examples for Shopify Products

Here are examples of good alt text for common e-commerce product images:

Clothing:

• "Women's oversized cashmere sweater in heather gray, relaxed fit"

• "Men's slim-fit dark wash jeans, front view showing pocket detail"

Jewelry:

• "Sterling silver pendant necklace with turquoise stone, 18-inch chain"

• "Stackable gold rings set of 3, thin bands with hammered texture"

Home goods:

• "Handwoven jute rug in natural tan, 5x7 feet, shown in living room setting"

• "Ceramic coffee mug in matte black, 12 oz capacity, with comfortable handle"

Beauty products:

• "Organic rosehip face oil in amber glass dropper bottle, 1 oz"

• "Matte lipstick in deep burgundy shade, shown applied on model"

Notice how each example describes the product specifically while keeping the text concise and natural.

How to Add Alt Text in Shopify

Adding alt text in Shopify is straightforward:

1. Go to Products in your Shopify admin

2. Select the product you want to edit

3. Click on the product image

4. In the image details panel, find the Alt text field

5. Enter your descriptive alt text

6. Click Save

For blog images and other media, you can add alt text when uploading or editing images in the Shopify editor.

The challenge? If you have hundreds or thousands of product images, adding alt text manually takes a lot of time. That's where automation can help.

Common Alt Text Mistakes to Avoid

Watch out for these pitfalls:

Leaving alt text blank. This is the most common mistake and the easiest to catch in an accessibility audit. Every meaningful image needs alt text.

Using generic descriptions. "Product image" or "Photo" tells users nothing useful. Be specific.

Keyword stuffing. Cramming keywords makes alt text unreadable and can hurt your SEO.

Using the same alt text for every image. Each image should have unique alt text that describes what's actually shown.

Describing things that aren't in the image. Stick to what's visible. Don't add information that users would need to see the image to verify.

Forgetting about variant images. If you have multiple images showing different colors or angles, each image needs appropriate alt text reflecting what it shows.

Maintaining Alt Text at Scale

For small stores with a few dozen products, adding alt text manually is manageable. But as your catalog grows, it becomes a real challenge.

Here's how to stay on top of it:

Audit your existing images. Use tools like WAVE or Google Lighthouse to identify images with missing or problematic alt text.

Create a system for new products. Make alt text part of your product upload process. Don't publish products without it.

Consider automation. AI-powered tools can generate alt text at scale, saving hours of manual work while maintaining quality.

Review regularly. Accessibility isn't a one-time fix. Every new image you add — whether products, blog posts, or promotional banners — needs proper alt text.

The Bottom Line

Alt text is a small thing that makes a big difference. It helps visually impaired customers shop your store, improves your SEO, and protects you from costly ADA lawsuits.

The key principles are simple:

• Be descriptive and specific

• Keep it concise (under 125 characters)

• Include keywords naturally, not forcefully

• Skip "image of" and get straight to the description

• Use empty alt text only for truly decorative images

If you've been ignoring alt text, now is the time to fix it. Start with your best-selling products and work through your catalog systematically.

Your customers — and your legal team — will thank you.

Adding alt text to hundreds of product images is time-consuming. Our app AI Alt Generator automatically creates SEO-friendly, accessible alt text for your entire Shopify catalog in minutes.