Alt text checker
Alt text is a short description of an image for people who cannot see it. Paste a page address to list every image and its alt text, and see which ones are missing, vague or too long.
How do I create alt text?
Missing alt text was found on 53.1% of the million home pages WebAIM tested in February 2026. On a store, most of it is product photos.
Look at the image and write what a shopper would need to know if they could not see it, in one short sentence. Name the product, its colour and what makes it different. Leave out "image of". Keep it short, usually under 150 characters, and use empty alt text only for images that are purely decorative.
Five rules that cover most images
- Describe, do not label. “Linen shirt in olive, short sleeves” tells a shopper more than “shirt”.
- Leave out “image of”. Screen readers already say it is an image.
- Say where a linked image goes. A logo that links home needs your store name, not “logo”.
- Put text that is in the image into the alt text. A banner that says “20% off sale” needs those words.
- Skip decoration. Patterns, dividers and spacers get empty alt text, so they are not read at all.
Can you give me an example of alt text?
| Image | Weak | Better |
|---|---|---|
| Product photo of a mug | IMG_4021.jpg | Speckled stoneware mug in sand, 350 ml, with a wide handle |
| Second photo of the same mug | Speckled stoneware mug | The same mug from above, showing the glazed inside |
| Lifestyle photo | Image of a woman | A woman holding the sand mug at a breakfast table |
| Logo in the header, linked to the home page | logo | Northwind Ceramics, home |
| Decorative wave divider | wave divider graphic | Empty alt text (alt="") so screen readers skip it |
Alt text generators: a draft, not the final word
An alt text generator looks at a photo and writes a suggested description. It saves time on a large catalogue, but it does not know your product names, colour names or why a photo is on the page. Read every suggestion before you publish it.
This free checker does not write alt text. It shows you where it is missing or weak, so you know which images to fix first.
Suggested alt text you approve
Alt text questions
Is alt text legally required?
WCAG success criterion 1.1.1 asks for a text alternative for every image that carries meaning, and laws like the ADA, the AODA and the European Accessibility Act point to WCAG. Missing alt text is one of the most common problems in website accessibility complaints.
Can AI generate alt text?
It can write a first draft. It often misses what matters to a shopper, such as the exact colour name or the material, and it cannot know why an image is on the page. Treat a generated description as a suggestion, and read it before you publish it.
What is an alt text generator?
A tool that looks at an image and writes a suggested description for it. Inclusely's app suggests alt text for your product images, and you approve or edit each one before it is saved to Shopify.
Should I just use the product title as alt text?
It is better than nothing, but often not enough. If a product has six photos, all six get the same alt text. Describe what each photo shows, such as the back, a detail or the product in use.
What does an empty alt text mean?
alt="" tells screen readers to skip the image. That is right for borders, patterns and spacers. It is wrong for product photos, and wrong for an image that is the only thing inside a link, because the link is then left with no name.
Why does the checker show fewer images than I see on the page?
It reads the page code without running scripts. Images that a theme or app adds later, such as review photos or some slideshows, are not in the code it reads. It also lists at most 300 images per page.
Checking a whole page for other problems? Try the free accessibility checker.
Fix alt text for every product, with your approval.
Early access stores get a free scan of their whole store and a call with our team to go through it.
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