Hidden from screen readers but still reachable with Tab
WCAG 2.2 4.1.2 Name, role, value, Level A
18 occurrences, found on: Collection page
- Why it matters for shoppers
- A keyboard user lands on an element that the screen reader does not announce.
- Where it usually lives in a Shopify theme
- Cloned carousel slides, off-screen drawers and mobile menus hidden with aria-hidden, quick add buttons inside hidden slides.
- Direction for a fix
- When a region is hidden with aria-hidden, take its controls out of the tab order too, with tabindex="-1" or the inert attribute.
- Examples from the demo store
input#Sort-fake-1-template--22668261458221__collection-maininput#Sort-fake-2-template--22668261458221__collection-maininput#Sort-fake-3-template--22668261458221__collection-main
Clickable element that is not a button or link
WCAG 2.2 4.1.2 Name, role, value, Level A
7 occurrences, found on: Home page, Collection page, Product page, Cart page
- Why it matters for shoppers
- A div or span with a click handler cannot be reached with the Tab key and is not announced as clickable.
- Where it usually lives in a Shopify theme
- Custom colour swatches, accordions, tabs and quick view triggers built from div or span elements.
- Direction for a fix
- Use a button element for actions and a link for navigation.
- Examples from the demo store
Form field without a label
WCAG 2.2 1.3.1 Info and relationships, Level A
5 occurrences, found on: Collection page, Product page
- Why it matters for shoppers
- Without a label a screen reader only says “edit text”, so the shopper cannot tell whether the field is for an e-mail address, a quantity or a discount code.
- Where it usually lives in a Shopify theme
- Newsletter sign-up in the footer, the search field in the header, quantity fields in the cart, price range filters on collections.
- Direction for a fix
- Connect every field to a label element with for and id (it may be visually hidden) or give it an aria-label. A placeholder is not a label.
- Examples from the demo store
input#min-price (type="number")input#max-price (type="number")input#drawer-min-price (type="number")
Image without an alt attribute
WCAG 2.2 1.1.1 Non-text content, Level A
1 occurrence, found on: Home page
- Why it matters for shoppers
- A screen reader skips the image or reads out its file name, so a blind shopper does not learn what the product photo shows.
- Where it usually lives in a Shopify theme
- Product card and product media snippets, image banners, slideshow and image-with-text sections, and sometimes the logo in the header.
- Direction for a fix
- Output the alt text stored with the image, fall back to the product or section title, and give purely decorative images an empty alt="".
- Examples from the demo store
The same id is used more than once
WCAG 2.2 4.1.2 Name, role, value, Level A
138 occurrences, found on: Home page, Collection page, Product page, Cart page
- Why it matters for shoppers
- Labels, error messages and aria references can point at the wrong element, so a field or control may lose its name.
- Where it usually lives in a Shopify theme
- Sections rendered twice on one page, such as desktop and mobile headers, cart drawer and cart page, or country and language selectors in both header and footer.
- Direction for a fix
- Make generated ids unique, for example by adding the section id to them.
- Examples from the demo store
"locale_code", 3×"HeaderDrawer-fresh-foods-dairy-eggs-cheese", 2×"predictive-search-results-list", 2×
aria-labelledby or aria-describedby points to a missing element
WCAG 2.2 4.1.2 Name, role, value, Level A
4 occurrences, found on: Home page, Collection page, Product page, Cart page
- Why it matters for shoppers
- The element was meant to take its name or description from another element that is not on the page, so the screen reader has nothing to read.
- Where it usually lives in a Shopify theme
- Product cards that point at sale or sold-out badges which are only rendered in some cases, form error messages, dialogs.
- Direction for a fix
- Output the reference only when the target element is rendered, or always render the target.
- Examples from the demo store
aria-labelledby → "promoted-products"
Heading levels skip a step
WCAG 2.2 1.3.1 Info and relationships, Level A
1 occurrence, found on: Home page
- Why it matters for shoppers
- People who move through a page by headings expect the levels to nest. A jump from h2 to h4 suggests a missing part.
- Where it usually lives in a Shopify theme
- Section headings, product card titles and footer column headings, where the level is chosen for its font size.
- Direction for a fix
- Choose heading levels from the structure of the page and set the size with a class.
- Examples from the demo store
Page without an h1 heading
WCAG 2.2 1.3.1 Info and relationships, Level A
1 occurrence, found on: Collection page
- Why it matters for shoppers
- Screen reader users often jump to the first-level heading to learn what a page is about.
- Where it usually lives in a Shopify theme
- The main title of a template: collection banner, product title in the main product section, cart title. Some templates style the title as a heading without using an h1.
- Direction for a fix
- Render the main title of every template as one h1.
Icon without a text alternative or a decorative mark
WCAG 2.2 1.1.1 Non-text content, Level A
25 occurrences, found on: Product page, Cart page
- Why it matters for shoppers
- If the icon carries meaning, such as a payment method or “free shipping”, a screen reader user misses it. If it is decoration, it should be hidden from screen readers.
- Where it usually lives in a Shopify theme
- Icon snippets, payment icons in the footer, trust and feature icons.
- Direction for a fix
- Hide decorative icons with aria-hidden="true". Give meaningful icons role="img" and an aria-label or a title element.
- What the test can see
- The test cannot tell a decorative icon from a meaningful one, so each of these needs a quick look.
- Examples from the demo store
Menu not marked as navigation
WCAG 2.2 1.3.1 Info and relationships, Level A
1 occurrence, found on: Cart page
- Why it matters for shoppers
- Screen reader users cannot jump straight to the menu.
- Where it usually lives in a Shopify theme
- Header menu and footer menus.
- Direction for a fix
- Wrap each menu in a nav element and name it with aria-label when there is more than one.