Do I need the app embed if I already pasted the script into theme.liquid?

No, either method loads the same widget, and running both mounts the button twice. The app embed is preferable because it survives theme updates, whereas a theme.liquid edit is lost when you switch or update themes. It is not where you configure the widget: the embed has a single on/off checkbox, and position, colour and trigger size live in the Inclusify app under Apps > Inclusify > Customize, which needs the Starter plan or higher.

Will installing the widget slow my store down?

No. The manual snippet is async and the app embed uses defer, so neither blocks the parser or delays rendering, and both are one request from a CDN edge. The difference between them is only when the bundle runs, not whether it holds the page up.

Does it work with Shopify Hydrogen or a headless storefront?

Yes, but not through the app embed, because headless storefronts do not use Liquid themes. Add the script tag to your Hydrogen or custom frontend the way you would for any React app, and register that storefront's own hostname in Inclusify rather than relying on the myshopify one.

Which themes are supported?

All of them: Shopify supports app embed blocks in vintage and Online Store 2.0 themes alike, because embeds do not depend on sections or JSON templates. The manual theme.liquid method is an alternative, not a fallback for older themes.

Shopify

Inclusify installs on Shopify as an app plus a theme app embed: add the app from the Shopify App Store, then switch the embed on in the theme editor under Theme settings App embeds and press Save. You need a staff account that can install apps and edit the published theme; you do not need a particular Shopify plan, and you do not need a particular theme, because Shopify supports app embed blocks in vintage and Online Store 2.0 themes alike. Two screens, no theme code, and the widget is on the live storefront as soon as the theme saves.

Installation Steps

Install the App

Visit the Shopify App Store and click "Add app" to install Inclusify on your store.

Enable App Embed

Installing the app does not switch the widget on. Shopify deactivates app embed blocks after an app is installed and leaves it to the merchant to activate them in the theme editor, from Theme settings App embeds. Open the theme editor for the theme you want, go to that section, and toggle Inclusify Accessibility Widget on.

Save the theme

Click Save in the theme editor. Save only affects the theme you are editing, so enable the embed on the theme that is actually published.

The app embed itself has one setting - on or off. Position, colour and trigger size live in the Inclusify app: open it from Apps Inclusify in your Shopify admin and go to Customize. Customization needs the Starter plan or higher. Saved changes reach the storefront once the cached widget bundle expires, not instantly.

Alternative: Manual Installation

This replaces step 2 only, not step 1. Use one method or the other: leaving the app embed on and pasting the tag as well loads the widget twice.

Register the domain first

Installing the app in step 1 is what registers the store with Inclusify - the install adds your .myshopify.com domain to your account. The manual snippet registers nothing on its own, so pasting it without the app install fails silently: the script URL still returns HTTP 200, but what it serves is a single console.log saying the domain is not registered. There is no error to find and no widget appears.

Go to Online Store Themes
Click the ... menu beside the theme, then Edit code
Open theme.liquid
Paste the following before the closing </body> tag:

theme.liquid

<script src="https://app.inclusifyapp.com/w/YOUR-STORE.myshopify.com.js" async></script>

Replace YOUR-STORE with your Shopify store subdomain. Use the permanent .myshopify.com domain, not your custom storefront domain - the bundle it serves authorises every domain registered to the store, so the widget still runs on the custom domain.

What the app install adds

• The store is registered for you. The install writes the .myshopify.com host into your account, which is the step the manual snippet leaves to you.
• The embed lives outside the theme’s own files, so switching or updating a theme does not remove it, where a theme.liquid edit is lost.
• On and off is a theme editor toggle, per theme, so you can enable it on a draft theme and see it only there.
• Billing runs through Shopify, and monthly visitor usage and store content checks appear inside the Shopify admin.

What needs attention on Shopify

Shopify's own words are that app embed blocks are deactivated after an app is installed, and that merchants activate them in the theme editor from Theme Settings > App embeds. That is one deliberate action after install, on one theme, and it is the single most common reason a store that has the app shows no widget.

Every theme can run it, including vintage themes

App embed blocks are supported in vintage and in Online Store 2.0 themes, because they do not rely on sections or JSON templates. The Online Store 2.0 requirement that gets quoted around app blocks applies to blocks that sit inside a section, which this is not. There is no theme for which the manual theme.liquid snippet is the only option.

The tag points at the .myshopify.com domain on purpose

The app embed builds the script URL from shop.permanent_domain, because that host never changes while a custom storefront domain can. The bundle it fetches authorises every domain registered to the store, so the widget still runs on the custom domain even though the URL names the myshopify one. Do not rewrite the URL to your storefront domain.

Checkout is outside the widget's reach, and there is no way round it

Shopify does not render app blocks or app embed blocks on checkout step pages. The Additional scripts field is not an alternative any more either: Shopify sunset checkout.liquid and additional scripts for the Thank you and Order status pages on 28 August 2025 for Plus stores and 26 August 2026 for everyone else, in favour of checkout UI extensions and web pixels, neither of which loads this bundle.

Verify the installation

Confirm the App embeds toggle is on for the theme that is actually published: Save in the theme editor only affects the theme you are editing, so check under Online Store > Themes which theme is live.
Open the live storefront in a private window rather than the theme editor preview, which can render embeds that are not published yet.
In DevTools > Network, filter for "w/" and confirm the request to app.inclusifyapp.com/w/your-store.myshopify.com.js returns 200 and a full bundle. A store that is registered gets the widget; one that is not gets a single console.log line with the same 200 status.
Load a product page and a collection page as well as the home page: the embed injects into the theme layout, so a template that does not use the default layout does not get the script.
Do not test on a checkout step page. Shopify does not render app embed blocks there, so its absence is expected rather than a failed install.

Widget bundles are served from a CDN and cached for a few hours. If you changed widget settings in the panel and the site still shows the old configuration, wait for the cache to expire or load the script URL directly with a cache-busting query string (`?v=2`) to confirm the new version is being served.

Troubleshooting Shopify installs

The app embed is toggled on but nothing appears on the live store.: Theme editor changes are not live until you press Save, and Save only affects the theme you are editing. If you enabled the embed on a draft or duplicated theme, publish that theme or repeat the toggle on the published one under Online Store > Themes.
The widget appears twice.: The app embed and a manual theme.liquid script tag are both active. The bundle has no guard against being executed twice, so two tags mount two buttons. Pick one method: remove the script tag from theme.liquid, or leave the tag and toggle the app embed off.
The widget is missing on checkout.: That is expected. Shopify does not render app embed blocks on checkout step pages, and the Additional scripts field that used to be the workaround was sunset on 28 August 2025 for Plus stores and 26 August 2026 for other stores. Treat checkout as outside the widget's reach.
Nothing loads and the store asks for a password.: Password-protected development stores block third-party scripts for logged-out visitors. Remove the storefront password or test while logged into the admin.

Shopify questions

Do I need the app embed if I already pasted the script into theme.liquid?: No, either method loads the same widget, and running both mounts the button twice. The app embed is preferable because it survives theme updates, whereas a theme.liquid edit is lost when you switch or update themes. It is not where you configure the widget: the embed has a single on/off checkbox, and position, colour and trigger size live in the Inclusify app under Apps > Inclusify > Customize, which needs the Starter plan or higher.
Will installing the widget slow my store down?: No. The manual snippet is async and the app embed uses defer, so neither blocks the parser or delays rendering, and both are one request from a CDN edge. The difference between them is only when the bundle runs, not whether it holds the page up.
Does it work with Shopify Hydrogen or a headless storefront?: Yes, but not through the app embed, because headless storefronts do not use Liquid themes. Add the script tag to your Hydrogen or custom frontend the way you would for any React app, and register that storefront's own hostname in Inclusify rather than relying on the myshopify one.
Which themes are supported?: All of them: Shopify supports app embed blocks in vintage and Online Store 2.0 themes alike, because embeds do not depend on sections or JSON templates. The manual theme.liquid method is an alternative, not a fallback for older themes.

Shopify documentation

Every Shopify-specific requirement, menu path and limit on this page comes from these pages. Menus move, so check them against your own admin if something does not match.

Inclusify for Shopify covers what the widget does on a Shopify site, and pricing.
Script installation generates the embed code for your domain.
Customization covers the position, colour and size of the widget button.