Help center
Frequently asked questions
What AccessProof does, what it never touches, and why it fixes at the source instead of selling an overlay.
Getting started
What does AccessProof do?
AccessProof helps your Shopify store meet WCAG 2.1 AA — the accessibility standard the EU Accessibility Act relies on. It audits your rendered storefront pages, scores them and ranks every violation worst-first with its WCAG reference and how to fix it, then helps you fix issues at the source. The flagship fix is alt text: grounded AI describes your actual product image, you review it, and AccessProof writes it back to the real image (reversibly). You can also export a print-friendly EAA/WCAG evidence report.
How do I install and set it up?
Install from the Shopify App Store and open the app — AccessProof runs a first accessibility audit automatically: it fetches your public storefront pages and scans your product images through the Admin API. There are no scripts to paste and nothing to add to your theme.
Do I need any API keys or paid third-party tools?
No. The full audit, the ranked issue list, and the complete image-alt report work out of the box for free. AI alt-text (drafting descriptions from your images and writing them back) is included on the paid plans.
How it works
Is AccessProof an accessibility overlay / widget?
No — and that's the point. Overlay widgets layer a toolbar over your site and can't fix broken HTML; in 2025 the US FTC fined an overlay vendor $1,000,000 for claiming its widget made sites WCAG-compliant, and accessibility plaintiffs specifically target overlay-only stores. AccessProof does the opposite: it fixes issues in your real images and theme (at the source) and reports honestly. It installs no visitor-facing widget.
Does a 100 score mean my store is legally compliant?
No. The score measures how many automated WCAG 2.1 AA checks pass on the pages we audit — it is an objective count of detectable issues, not a legal determination and not a guarantee of compliance. No tool can guarantee WCAG or EAA compliance: automated testing catches a large share of issues, but some criteria (like colour contrast and full keyboard journeys) need human review. AccessProof is tooling and evidence; you remain responsible for meeting your legal obligations. It is not legal advice.
How does the score work?
Each violation deducts points from 100 based on severity: critical issues (like an image with no alt text) cost the most, then serious, then moderate. The store score is the average across the pages we audit, and every issue is listed worst-first. The full breakdown is on the “How scoring works” page.
How does the AI alt-text work, and is my data safe?
On the paid plans, AccessProof sends a flagged product image to Anthropic's vision model and asks for a concise description of what's visible. A safety gate then rejects filler (“image of…”) and anything that isn't grounded in the picture, so it won't invent claims. You review and edit every draft before it's written. Generation runs zero-retention — the image and response are not logged; only coarse metadata (token counts, latency) is recorded. Access tokens are encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM.
Will it change my store automatically?
Only when you ask it to, and only alt text. You approve each alt-text change before it's written to the image, and the previous value is snapshotted so you can revert with one click. AccessProof never edits your theme, product content, orders or customers automatically.
Does AccessProof read my orders or customers?
No. AccessProof operates at Protected Customer Data Level 0: it does not request the read_orders or read_customers scopes and is structurally unable to read them. It works only with your products, product images, theme (read-only), and your public storefront HTML.
Fixing issues
Which issues can AccessProof fix directly?
The one it writes back for you is image alt text — the most common WCAG failure — via the Shopify Admin API, reversibly. For structural issues (missing page language, an unlabeled search field, a broken heading order, disabled zoom), AccessProof pinpoints exactly where the problem is and gives you the WCAG reference and a copy-paste theme fix, because those live in your theme code.
Does it work on a password-protected or brand-new store?
Image auditing and alt-text fixes work through the Admin API even on a private store. The storefront-page audit needs your pages to be publicly reachable; on a password-protected store some pages may be skipped until the store is live.
Billing & plans
What's free and what's paid?
The full WCAG 2.1 AA audit, the complete worst-first issue list, and the entire image-alt report are free. The paid plans (Pro and Scale) add AI alt-text drafting + write-back, the full evidence-report export, and — on Scale — scheduled re-audits and more pages per run.
Can I upgrade, downgrade or cancel?
Yes — you can change or cancel your plan anytime from the Pricing screen in the app. Billing is handled by Shopify and appears on your regular Shopify invoice. Downgrading keeps all of your audit results and any alt text you already wrote; it only changes which paid features are available going forward.
Will I be charged while testing on a development store?
No. Shopify does not bill development stores, so you can install and try AccessProof on a dev store at no cost.
Data & privacy
What data does AccessProof collect?
Your product and image data (read/written via the Admin API — alt text only on writes), the audit results it produces, your shop domain and app settings, billing status, and encrypted access tokens. It stores no customer personal data of any kind.
Is AccessProof GDPR-compliant?
Yes. AccessProof honours Shopify's mandatory GDPR compliance webhooks (customers/data_request, customers/redact, shop/redact). Because it holds no customer personal data, customer requests have nothing to return; a shop-redaction request cascade-deletes all of your shop's data.
Will uninstalling AccessProof change or delete my products?
No. Uninstalling removes AccessProof's access and deletes the data it stored. Any alt text you wrote stays on your images (and remained reversible while the app was installed); uninstalling does not alter your product content.
Still have a question?
Email carcucatalin@gmail.com — we aim to reply within a few business days.