Help center
Frequently asked questions
What Access Proof does, what it never touches, and why it fixes at the source instead of selling an overlay.
Getting started
What does Access Proof do?
Access Proof 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 it finds 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 Access Proof writes it back to the real image (reversibly). You can also download an EAA/WCAG evidence report as a CSV file.
How do I install and set it up?
Install from the Shopify App Store and open the app — Access Proof 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 WCAG 2.1 AA audit of your key storefront pages, the ranked issue list, and the image-alt report across your catalogue (up to 500 products) 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 Access Proof 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. Access Proof does the opposite: it fixes the issue in your real product images (at the source), tells you what to change in your theme yourself, 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. Access Proof is tooling and evidence; you remain responsible for meeting your legal obligations. It is not legal advice.
How does the score work?
A 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, Access Proof 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. Your Shopify access token stays server-side, is redacted from our logs, and is deleted when you uninstall.
Will it change my store automatically?
Only when you ask it to, and only alt text. Nothing is written to an image until you approve that change, and the previous value is snapshotted so you can revert with one click. Access Proof never edits your theme, product content, orders or customers automatically.
Does Access Proof read my orders or customers?
No. Access Proof 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 and product images, and with your public storefront HTML.
Fixing issues
Which issues can Access Proof 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), Access Proof pinpoints exactly where the problem is and gives you the WCAG reference plus a one-line fix to apply, because those live in your theme code and only you can edit it.
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 WCAG 2.1 AA audit, the complete worst-first issue list of everything it finds, and the image-alt report across your catalogue (up to 500 products) are free. Free and Pro audit 4 key storefront pages per run (home, collection, cart, search); Scale audits up to 25, including real product pages. The paid plans (Pro and Scale) add AI alt-text drafting + write-back, bulk fix, the downloadable evidence report (CSV), and — on Scale — scheduled weekly re-audits.
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 the audit results and the worst-first issue list you already have, plus any alt text you already wrote, and you can still revert a change Access Proof made; you lose AI alt-text drafting, bulk fix, the evidence-report export, and saving new alt text to an image — including alt text you type yourself.
Will I be charged while testing on a development store?
No. Shopify does not bill development stores, so you can install and try Access Proof on a dev store at no cost.
Data & privacy
What data does Access Proof 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 your Shopify access token. It stores no customer personal data of any kind.
Is Access Proof GDPR-compliant?
Yes. Access Proof 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 Access Proof change or delete my products?
No. Uninstalling removes Access Proof'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.