Can you translate image alt text in Shopify?

When did Shopify make image alt text translatable?

Shopify's changelog announced it on July 17, 2025, for accessibility and search engine optimization in stores that sell in different languages. It names one route:

You need at least one language besides your default. In the Admin API reference (version 2026-10), alt is a translatable field on article images, collection images and media images.

How to translate alt text with a CSV import

Follow Shopify's CSV translation steps:

1. Click Export and select Untranslated content; the file is emailed to you.
2. Add translations to the Translated content column only, then save.
3. Click Import. To keep existing translations, deselect Overwrite any existing translations.

The import applies only to secondary languages, and Shopify doesn't generate the text: you provide it or use a translator. The CSV help page, read on October 12, 2026, doesn't say which value in the Field column marks alt rows.

Does Translate & Adapt translate alt text?

Shopify lists three ways to translate: the Translate & Adapt app, CSV files and a compatible third-party app. The Help Center pages on Translate & Adapt we read on October 12, 2026 don't describe an alt field in its editor or its auto-translation.

The app's requirements page lists “Product images” among content the app can't translate without saying whether alt is included, so that line doesn't settle it either way. The app does let you add a different version of an image file per language — a file swap, not translated alt.

Third-party apps that use the Translations API can reach alt from API version 2025-10. Before installing one for this, check that its listing names image alt text.