How to add alt text in Squarespace

Which box for which picture

Most Squarespace pictures don't have a box called "alt text". They use another piece of text instead. This is Squarespace's own list:

Picture	Its alt text comes from
Image block	The Image alt text box. Left empty, there's none.
Auto layout section (7.1)	The Image alt text box for each picture
Gallery section (7.1)	The picture's Description, which is also its caption
Gallery block	The picture's title, or its description if there's no title
Product image	The Alt text box, up to 200 characters. Left empty, the product name.
Blog post or event featured image	The post or event title
Page featured image	The file name
Site logo	The site title
Section background	Nothing: it can't have alt text

Anywhere else, the picture's file name is used. A name like IMG_4032.jpg tells a screen reader user nothing, so rename files before you upload them, or rename them in the Asset library.

Not sure what to write? How to write good alt text has examples, or the Alt text writer drafts it from your photo.

Image blocks

1. Open the Pages panel, click the page, then click Edit.
2. Click the image block, then the pencil icon on it.
3. Click the Content tab.
4. Type the description in Image alt text. It saves by itself.

Auto layout sections (version 7.1)

1. Open the page and click Edit, then hover over the section and click Edit Content.
2. Click the Content tab, then click a picture.
3. Type the description under Image alt text. If the picture isn't in the list, click Elements and switch Show image on.
4. Click Back and do the same for each picture, then click Save.

Gallery alt text

Galleries have no alt text box. What you type for each picture does the job, so describe the picture there, not just name it.

Gallery sections (version 7.1)

1. Click Edit on the page and hover over the gallery.
2. Click Edit Gallery, then click a picture.
3. Type under Description in the sidebar. It becomes both the caption and the alt text.

Changes in a gallery section save straight away, and Squarespace says you can't undo them with undo or Discard changes.

Gallery blocks

1. Open the gallery block's editor and hover over a picture.
2. Click the gear icon.
3. Type a title and a description. The title is the alt text, so make it describe the picture.

On version 7.0 gallery pages, the picture's title is used too (or its description if there's no title).

Product images

1. Open the Pages panel and click your store page, then a category or All.
2. Hover over the product image, click ..., then Edit metadata.
3. Type the description in Alt text (200 characters at most).
4. Click Apply, then Save.

Left empty, the product name is used. That's better than nothing, but every photo of the product then says the same thing. Say what each photo shows: "Navy hoodie, back view" and "Navy hoodie, close-up of the crest".

Background images can't have alt text

Squarespace doesn't let you add alt text to section background images (or to custom thumbnails on video blocks). What to do depends on the picture:

• Just decoration (a texture, a blurred photo, a pattern): leave it. Decorative pictures don't need alt text.
• Shows something people need (your shop front, the product, a team photo): use an image block instead, so it can have alt text. In Fluid Engine, the image block's Design tab has a Fill option that makes the picture fill its space.
• Has words in it (opening times, a price, a date): put those words on the page as real text too. A screen reader can't read words baked into a background picture.

Squarespace alt text character limit

• Product images: 200 characters at most.
• Everything else: Squarespace doesn't publish a limit. Its own advice is to keep alt text short, "usually 150 to 200 characters".

A single sentence is usually plenty: about 125 characters, like this one. Longer details belong in the page's text, where everyone can read them.

Lots of pictures? Find the ones without alt text

• Picture Check looks at up to 10 pictures on a page of your live site and lists the ones with no alt text, or with a file name standing in for it.
• On version 7.1 with Fluid Engine, Squarespace's own Improve with AI button (in the SEO/AI Visibility panel) suggests alt text for image blocks, gallery sections and auto layouts. It doesn't look at products or blog posts. Read each suggestion before you save it: AI gets colors, people and places wrong.