HighMobileMeasured

Text too small to read on mobile

Much of the page’s text is too small to read on a phone without zooming.

Checked on: every page the audit scans · Zolvio’s check: “Text too small to read”

Why it costs you sales

If shoppers have to zoom in to read a price, a size option or a delivery note, many won’t bother, and the ones who do lose their place on the page.

Google’s Lighthouse treats text under 12 pixels as hard to read on a phone.

How Zolvio detects it

Zolvio opens the page at 375 pixels wide and measures the font size of every piece of text a shopper can see. When 40% or more of the page’s text, counted by characters, is smaller than 12 pixels, the page is flagged: the line Lighthouse uses for legible text. Pages with fewer than 200 characters of text aren’t judged. The finding shows the share and examples.

This is a direct measurement, so it’s reported on every plan, including Free and audits with AI turned off. With AI review on, the AI agent also checks it against the audit’s evidence before it reaches your issue list.

AI screenshot review also looks for this problem (“Illegible text”) in desktop and mobile screenshots. When both find it, you get one issue.

How to fix it

  1. In the theme editor, open Theme settings → Typography and raise the body text size; aim for 16px on phones.
  2. If the small text comes from one section (the finding shows examples), raise its size in that section’s settings or in its CSS.
  3. Make form inputs 16px or larger too, so iPhones don’t zoom in when a field is tapped.
  4. Read a product description on a phone without zooming to check.

In Zolvio: on paid plans with AI turned on, the guided fix writes these steps for your own store and theme: where to click in Shopify admin or the theme editor, or which file to open, the line to find and the code to add. Each file opens in Shopify’s code editor. Zolvio never edits your theme: you make the change, then Verify fix checks your published theme for code changes (or you mark it fixed), and later audits confirm the problem is gone.

Common questions

Why does “Text too small to read on mobile” cost a Shopify store sales?

If shoppers have to zoom in to read a price, a size option or a delivery note, many won’t bother, and the ones who do lose their place on the page. Google’s Lighthouse treats text under 12 pixels as hard to read on a phone.

How does Zolvio detect “Text too small to read on mobile”?

Zolvio opens the page at 375 pixels wide and measures the font size of every piece of text a shopper can see. When 40% or more of the page’s text, counted by characters, is smaller than 12 pixels, the page is flagged: the line Lighthouse uses for legible text. Pages with fewer than 200 characters of text aren’t judged. The finding shows the share and examples.

How do I fix “Text too small to read on mobile” on Shopify?

In the theme editor, open Theme settings → Typography and raise the body text size; aim for 16px on phones. If the small text comes from one section (the finding shows examples), raise its size in that section’s settings or in its CSS. Make form inputs 16px or larger too, so iPhones don’t zoom in when a field is tapped. Read a product description on a phone without zooming to check.

Related

Documentation

  • How audits work — What an audit scans and how findings become issues.
  • Guided fixes — Step-by-step fixes written for your theme, with links into the code editor.
  • Heatmaps — See where shoppers tap and how far they scroll, on mobile and desktop.