Missing alt, empty alt, and a careful CSV

This page is the short version of what the checker is looking for. It is not a legal standard and not a certification.

Missing is not the same as empty

If the alt attribute is absent, the checker flags it. If the attribute is present and empty, that is a different state. Empty alt is often the right choice for a decorative image that adds no information. The checker does not treat empty alt as a failure.

Wrong alt is still alt

IMG_1234.jpg, DSC0001, the word "banner", a placeholder, or a raw UUID is an alt value, and usually a bad one. The same sentence on two different informative images is also flagged. The same file repeated with the same alt is not treated as two distinct images.

What the draft is for

• Decorative: leave the alt empty.
• Informative: say what the image shows, briefly.
• Functional, such as an icon inside a link or button: describe the action or destination.
• Complex, such as a chart or a dense diagram: a short alt is not the whole description. Flag it for a person. Do not treat a draft as complete.

Visual drafts, when the model key is set, cover at most 10 images on the free check. They are chosen from likely problems first. They are not approved until you accept, ignore, or keep the original on the review desk.

Putting the CSV back into a site

The download has stable columns: page_url, image_url, location_or_product_id, old_alt, new_draft, reason, review_status, and skip_reason. Rows still marked needs_review are not in the file. A coverage note sits beside the CSV and states the limits, including JavaScript that was not rendered and model limits.

This is not a native Shopify import file. If a store uses Shopify, export the full product file from Shopify, map only the alt text you have accepted into the image alt field, and test the import on a staging store. Empty columns in a platform import can overwrite data you meant to keep. AltReview does not write to the store for you.

Values that start with =, +, -, or @ are prefixed with a single quote so a spreadsheet does not treat them as formulas.