{
  "id": "C08",
  "url": "https://cartforagents.com/guides/size-chart-accessibility",
  "title": "Size chart accessibility: publish fit measurements as a text table",
  "description": "Build an accessible measurement table with garment versus body dimensions, units, tolerances and fit caveats alongside any size-chart image.",
  "answer": "Publish every size chart as a real text table: one row per size, body measurements and garment measurements in separate labelled columns, both units, how to measure, the tolerance and the fit advice. Keep any chart image as an extra, with a text description of its own. In one Shopify catalog search for knee sleeves, 4 of 10 descriptions carried a measurement chart as text, and one listing's chart appears to exist only as an image with empty alt text.",
  "take": "A size chart in a picture is invisible to agents and to screen readers. Publishing it as a text table is a one-hour fix that helps every shopper.",
  "summary": "A size chart that lives in a picture can't be quoted, converted or carried into a feed. Ten knee-sleeve records from one catalog search show the range, from proper text tables to a chart that existed only as an image with empty alt text.",
  "claims": [
    {
      "text": "For the search \"knee sleeves for squats compression\", 4 of the 10 returned descriptions carried a size-by-measurement chart as text (positions 2, 4, 5 and 9). Positions 1 and 7 put measurement ranges only in their size option labels, position 6 gave garment dimensions rather than body measurements, and positions 3, 8 and 10 had no measurement ranges in any text field we received.",
      "source_title": "Cart for Agents: Shopify agent-catalog snapshot, Oct 26, 2026 (How we checked, this page)",
      "source_url": "https://cartforagents.com/guides/size-chart-accessibility#how-we-checked",
      "source_date": "2026-10-26",
      "method": "observed",
      "limitation": "One unpersonalized search, top 10 results. Counts what the received record said, not what each product page shows or whether the charts are accurate."
    },
    {
      "text": "In the same result, the descriptions of positions 1, 4, 7, 8 and 9 contained one image each. Position 1's image followed the words \"check out the size chart\" and had no alt attribute. Positions 4, 7, 8 and 9 had empty alt text; position 9's file is named as a federation-approval badge, and position 8's is named as a size chart, while its text gave only sizing rules, no measurements.",
      "source_title": "Cart for Agents: Shopify agent-catalog snapshot, Oct 26, 2026 (How we checked, this page)",
      "source_url": "https://cartforagents.com/guides/size-chart-accessibility#how-we-checked",
      "source_date": "2026-10-26",
      "method": "observed",
      "limitation": "We judged image content from file names and surrounding text; we did not open or read the images."
    },
    {
      "text": "The four text charts were HTML tables. Only position 4 marked its header cells as header cells; none had a caption or scope attributes.",
      "source_title": "Cart for Agents: Shopify agent-catalog snapshot, Oct 26, 2026 (How we checked, this page)",
      "source_url": "https://cartforagents.com/guides/size-chart-accessibility#how-we-checked",
      "source_date": "2026-10-26",
      "method": "observed",
      "limitation": "Markup as received in the catalog description field, which may differ from the live product page."
    },
    {
      "text": "Position 2's description gave two ranges per size, Comfort Fit and Competition Fit, for XS to 4XL. Shopify's generated spec list kept one range per size and added a 5XL (19-20 in) that is not among the listing's size options. Position 4's description chart ran XS to 5XL and gave 4XL as 45.5-48 cm; its generated list gave 4XL as 45.5-48.5 cm and added 6XL and 7XL.",
      "source_title": "Cart for Agents: Shopify agent-catalog snapshot, Oct 26, 2026 (How we checked, this page)",
      "source_url": "https://cartforagents.com/guides/size-chart-accessibility#how-we-checked",
      "source_date": "2026-10-26",
      "method": "observed",
      "limitation": "We cannot see what Shopify generated these lists from; the extra sizes may come from merchant data we did not receive."
    },
    {
      "text": "For \"reflective dog coat for greyhound winter\", position 8's description said \"Boxer model is 35kg/77lbs wearing size 3XL\" and \"French Bulldog model is 9kg/20lbs wearing size L\". Its generated spec list said \"Available Sizes: L (35 kg/77 lbs), 3XL (9 kg/20 lbs)\". The descriptions of positions 1, 8 and 10 ended with \"just follow our size guide below!\" and nothing followed.",
      "source_title": "Cart for Agents: Shopify agent-catalog snapshot, Oct 26, 2026 (How we checked, this page)",
      "source_url": "https://cartforagents.com/guides/size-chart-accessibility#how-we-checked",
      "source_date": "2026-10-26",
      "method": "observed",
      "limitation": "One search. The guide may appear on the product page; it was not in the catalog record."
    },
    {
      "text": "For \"compression socks for long flights women\", none of the 10 descriptions stated a calf, ankle or shoe-size measurement for any size. Where a size option existed, it was letters (such as S/M and M/L, or s, m and l) or roman numerals (II, III, IV).",
      "source_title": "Cart for Agents: Shopify agent-catalog snapshot, Oct 26, 2026 (How we checked, this page)",
      "source_url": "https://cartforagents.com/guides/size-chart-accessibility#how-we-checked",
      "source_date": "2026-10-26",
      "method": "observed",
      "limitation": "Measurements may sit in images or on product pages that the catalog record did not include."
    },
    {
      "text": "Shopify marks the Global Catalog description, options, technical specifications, top features and unique selling points as Inferred: generated or enriched by Shopify, possibly inaccurate, and not merchant-authored source text.",
      "source_title": "Shopify: Global Catalog MCP, Inferred response fields",
      "source_url": "https://shopify.dev/docs/agents/catalog/global-catalog",
      "source_date": "2026-10-27",
      "method": "documented",
      "limitation": "Living documentation; the date is our check date. It does not say how assistants use these fields."
    },
    {
      "text": "Google says there are no additional requirements or special schema for AI Overviews and AI Mode, and lists making sure important content is available in textual form among the SEO practices that still apply.",
      "source_title": "Google Search Central: AI features and your website",
      "source_url": "https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features",
      "source_date": "2026-10-27",
      "method": "documented",
      "limitation": "Page last updated 2025-12-10 per Google; general guidance, not specific to size charts."
    },
    {
      "text": "W3C's tables tutorial says header cells must be marked up with th and data cells with td for a table to be accessible, and that a caption identifies the table's topic. W3C's complex-images tutorial says charts need a two-part text alternative: a short description plus a long description of the essential information.",
      "source_title": "W3C WAI: Tables Tutorial; Complex Images",
      "source_url": "https://www.w3.org/WAI/tutorials/tables/",
      "source_date": "2026-10-27",
      "method": "documented",
      "limitation": "Accessibility guidance for people using assistive technology, not a statement about AI agents."
    },
    {
      "text": "Google's size attribute takes one standard size value per product and asks for multiple dimensions to be condensed with a slash, such as 16/34 for neck and sleeve. OpenAI's product feed has a size label and, with extra setup, a size_system; it says no size conversion is implied. Neither field list we read has a field for a measurement chart.",
      "source_title": "Google Merchant Center Help: Size [size]; OpenAI Commerce: Products feed reference",
      "source_url": "https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6324492?hl=en",
      "source_date": "2026-10-27",
      "method": "documented",
      "limitation": "Absence of a chart field is our reading of the current field lists; platforms add fields."
    },
    {
      "text": "OpenAI says ChatGPT try-on images do not guarantee fit or size and tells shoppers to check the merchant's measurements, product details and return policy before buying.",
      "source_title": "OpenAI Help Center: Shopping with ChatGPT Search",
      "source_url": "https://help.openai.com/en/articles/11128490-shopping-with-chatgpt-search",
      "source_date": "2026-10-27",
      "method": "documented",
      "limitation": "Living help article; it does not say where ChatGPT reads measurements from."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Reddit r/shopify: merchant thread on preparing stores for agentic commerce (comment quoted)",
      "url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/shopify/comments/1wv5cvf/how_are_you_preparing_your_stores_for_agentic/",
      "accessed": "2026-10-27"
    },
    {
      "title": "Shopify: Global Catalog MCP",
      "url": "https://shopify.dev/docs/agents/catalog/global-catalog",
      "accessed": "2026-10-27"
    },
    {
      "title": "Google Search Central: AI features and your website",
      "url": "https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features",
      "accessed": "2026-10-27"
    },
    {
      "title": "Google Merchant Center Help: Size [size]",
      "url": "https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6324492?hl=en",
      "accessed": "2026-10-27"
    },
    {
      "title": "OpenAI Commerce: Products feed reference",
      "url": "https://developers.openai.com/commerce/specs/file-upload/products",
      "accessed": "2026-10-27"
    },
    {
      "title": "OpenAI Help Center: Shopping with ChatGPT Search",
      "url": "https://help.openai.com/en/articles/11128490-shopping-with-chatgpt-search",
      "accessed": "2026-10-27"
    },
    {
      "title": "W3C WAI: Tables Tutorial",
      "url": "https://www.w3.org/WAI/tutorials/tables/",
      "accessed": "2026-10-27"
    },
    {
      "title": "W3C WAI: Complex Images",
      "url": "https://www.w3.org/WAI/tutorials/images/complex/",
      "accessed": "2026-10-27"
    },
    {
      "title": "W3C: Understanding Success Criterion 1.4.5, Images of Text",
      "url": "https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG22/Understanding/images-of-text.html",
      "accessed": "2026-10-27"
    }
  ],
  "limitations": [
    "The template is our proposal, not a platform requirement. We have not measured whether a text size chart changes picks, rank, returns or sales in any assistant.",
    "The examples come from three unpersonalized Shopify agent-catalog searches on October 26, 2026. They are not a sample of apparel listings.",
    "We read the catalog record, not the live product pages. A page may show a chart that the record left out.",
    "We did not open the size-chart images, so we cannot say what they contain or whether an image reader could parse them.",
    "Shopify marks descriptions, options and generated lists as Inferred, so none of them is guaranteed to be the merchant's exact words.",
    "Platform field lists were checked on 2026-10-27 and change; re-check before acting.",
    "Store and brand names are withheld."
  ],
  "related": [
    "https://cartforagents.com/guides/agent-ready-product-data",
    "https://cartforagents.com/guides/product-specification-template",
    "https://cartforagents.com/guides/product-material-data",
    "https://cartforagents.com/guides/unit-pricing-ecommerce",
    "https://cartforagents.com/guides/product-constraint-coverage",
    "https://cartforagents.com/guides/winter-clothing-product-data"
  ],
  "published": "2026-10-27",
  "updated": "2026-10-27",
  "checked": "2026-10-27",
  "kind": "guide"
}