Alt Text Error

[CustomGiftsMCP]

I have started adding alt text to my photos. However, I'm getting the following error...

"Invalid Alt-text field. Please make changes to meet the criteria."

I double-checked and I'm not over the character count. I was able to save the description in each variation. I don't see any other issues. 

Has anyone else had this issue? 

Thanks!

[ChillwolfArt]

I've been looking for you in past Threads (see nothing that would be helpful, although Threads have been "archived"/poofed).

If you are using the mobile app (which I've never used), try using a browser instead. I've heard the app can be glitchy.  Or you could uninstall/reinstall it.
If using a browser, make sure it is updated.  And the usual clear cache/cookies; restart modem, etc.
(I always used the same desktop computer, browser, IP, OS,  for everything).

Hope something here will be helpful to you.  Good Luck. 

[CustomGiftsMCP]

Thanks so much for taking the time to look! I wasn't able to find anything in the topics either except for one mention that was archived either. I'm using a laptop and have tried all of the typical "on/off" fix it options. That's generally my go to for all technical issues. LOL! I do have one more browser option I plan on trying. Fingers crossed!

[LindasWatercolours]

This happened to me, I worded it slightly different and it went the second time, Think it might just have been a glitch because It's not happened since.

[weekendjewelry1]

One tiny possibility - I had issues a couple times when I used characters that weren't letters - quote marks and apostrophes in particular.  Don't know if it'll help but it's (barely) possible that if you eliminate those it could fix the issue. Can't hurt to try...

Oh - I use my laptop too, usually on Chrome. 

[AStitchinTimeByLois]

Thank you this help me!!

[AccordionBruce]

Thank you!

Fixed mine by taking out " " quotes from one of the Alt texts.

Wish they at least told you which item was causing the problem. I had to test different changes on eight images until I found the " " that was causing it.

Much appreciate your help!

[TheJourneyofBooks]

I was using quotation marks in mine and was getting the same error message. It stopped when I took them out. Thanks for sharing!

[starkissedjade]

I got the same message and it was because of the quotation marks and apostrophes, but it's weird because I did about 40 photos before I started getting the error message. Now I don't want to continue with most of the alt-text descriptions because I don't know if I will have to go back and edit them all later if the problem doesn't fix itself.

[BananaLeafGallery]

I got the same message and after reading your comment I took out the apostrophes in my alt text and it solved the problem, so thank you.

[OutOfCharacterQuilts]

Same issue and like others it resolved when I took out all the quotation marks. I was using quotation marks to denote inches, like 52"x35", but in this application it's probably more helpful to actually type out 52 inches by 35 inches anyway. 

[weekendjewelry1]

Wow! I didn't realize that this is a common issue but okay, I guess different programs have issues with quote marks, etc.  Good to really know that (and that it wasn't just me!) 

[TagTeams]

Same:
"Invalid Alt-text field. Please make changes to meet the criteria."

[starkissedjade · Accepted solution]

Has anyone else noticed that the same message also appears when you get close to the character limit? I’ve had a few where I would be 5-10 away from the limit, then get the error message, but if I changed the wording so that now the text is 15-20 characters away from the limit, then it goes through just fine. There weren’t any special characters either time. 

[CustomGiftsMCP]

It looks like this was the issue. Once I shortened the descriptions (even though they weren't over the character limit) it seemed to work. 

I did contact Etsy support, but they couldn't figure it out either. 

Thanks for letting me know the issue wasn't just me! 

[ManInTheMoonHerbs]

I've had it happen once and it wasn't due to character count. The error message went away when I changed "America" to "US". So random. I haven't had an issue with apostrophes not going though but the apostrophe turns into a bunch of #'s and letters in the preview. I don't know how the reader programs would interpret that so I changed them anyway.

[CustomGiftsMCP]

Thank you all for your responses! I think it ended up a character count issue, like Post Crafter noted. I wasn't over the character limit, but when I keep the count 10-20 short there doesn't seem to be a problem.

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