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-option-manual-template--26420035813674__maininput#sort-option-most-relevant-template--26420035813674__maininput#sort-option-best-selling-template--26420035813674__main
Link without a name
WCAG 2.2 2.4.4 Link purpose (in context), Level A
5 occurrences, found on: Home page, Collection page, Product page, Cart page
- Why it matters for shoppers
- A screen reader announces “link” and nothing else, so the shopper cannot tell where it leads.
- Where it usually lives in a Shopify theme
- Icon links in the header (account, cart), social media icons in the footer, image-only links on product cards and collection tiles.
- Direction for a fix
- Add visually hidden text or an aria-label to icon links, for example “Cart” or “Instagram”. For an image link, give the image an alt text.
- Examples from the demo store
Image without an alt attribute
WCAG 2.2 1.1.1 Non-text content, Level A
4 occurrences, 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
img.hero__mediaimg.before-imageimg.after-image
Button without a name
WCAG 2.2 4.1.2 Name, role, value, Level A
1 occurrence, found on: Collection page
- Why it matters for shoppers
- The shopper hears “button” with no hint whether it closes a drawer, adds to cart or opens the menu.
- Where it usually lives in a Shopify theme
- Icon-only buttons: drawer close, slider arrows, quantity plus and minus, menu and search toggles.
- Direction for a fix
- Put an aria-label or visually hidden text on the button and hide the icon inside it with aria-hidden="true".
- Examples from the demo store
The same id is used more than once
WCAG 2.2 4.1.2 Name, role, value, Level A
24 occurrences, found on: Collection 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
"Facet-Details-template--26420035813674__main-filter-v-availability", 2×"facet-inputs-filter-v-availability", 2×"facet-inputs-component-filter-v-availability", 2×
Heading levels skip a step
WCAG 2.2 1.3.1 Info and relationships, Level A
7 occurrences, found on: Home page, Collection page, Product page, Cart 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
19 occurrences, found on: Home page, Collection page, 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
More than one h1 heading on the page
WCAG 2.2 1.3.1 Info and relationships, Level A
1 occurrence, found on: Home page
- Why it matters for shoppers
- With two or more first-level headings it is harder to tell which one names the page.
- Where it usually lives in a Shopify theme
- A logo wrapped in an h1 on every page, or section headings that can be set to h1 in the theme editor.
- Direction for a fix
- Keep h1 for the main title of the page. Wrap the logo in an h1 only on the home page and let sections start at h2.