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Avatars are used to show a thumbnail representation of an individual or business in the interface.

Avatar component examples

Use to present an avatar for a merchant, customer, or business.

import {Avatar} from '@shopify/polaris';
import React from 'react';

function AvatarExample() {
  return <Avatar customer name="Farrah" />;
}

Props

interface AvatarProps
size?'xs' | 'sm' | 'md' | 'lg' | 'xl'

Size of avatar.

Defaults to 'medium'.

name?string

The name of the person.

initials?string

Initials of person to display.

customer?boolean

Whether the avatar is for a customer.

source?string

URL of the avatar image which falls back to initials if the image fails to load.

onError?() => void

Callback fired when the image fails to load.

accessibilityLabel?string

Accessible label for the avatar image.

Best practices

Avatars should be one of 5 sizes:

  • Extra small (20 x 20 px): use in tightly condensed layouts
  • Small (24 × 24 px): use when the medium size is too big for the layout, or when the avatar has less importance
  • Medium (28 × 28 px): use as the default size
  • Large (32 × 32 px): use when an avatar is a focal point, such as on a single customer card
  • Extra large (40 × 40 px): use when an avatar is a focal point, such as on a single customer card

Content guidelines

Any time you use an image to communicate a concept on Shopify, it’s important to use descriptive alt text. Doing this is important for accessibility because it allows screen readers to describe what’s in the image to people who may not be able to see it.

For avatars, we recommend using a format that describes what will show in the image:

  • alt="Person’s name" if the avatar represents a person
  • alt="Business’s name" if the avatar represents a business
  • alt="" if the name of the person/business appears next to the avatar as text

Related components

Accessibility

Structure

The avatar component uses a generated scalable vector graphics (SVG) file, which can cause challenges for merchants that use assistive technologies. To create a standard experience, the <img> is hidden from assistive technologies by using an empty alt attribute, and replaced with a <span> that has role=”img”.

Labeling

The avatar component represents content, and should have a text equivalent for merchants using assistive technologies. By default, the value of the name prop is used for the alternative text. If different text would be more accurate, use the accessibilityLabel prop to replace the value provided by name.

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