Baseline theme: automated accessibility test

On September 29, 2026 the AccessifyAI scanner tested the official demo store of Baseline 5.4.0 by Switch on 4 pages. It found 5 issue types (35 occurrences in total). For 10 of the 12 WCAG 2.2 criteria this index evaluates it found nothing.

Is Baseline accessible?

An automated test cannot answer that on its own. What this one shows is 5 types of issues on the Baseline demo store within the 12 criteria this index evaluates, listed below. The content, apps and settings of your store decide much of the result. Of the 55 WCAG 2.2 Level A and AA criteria, the scanner tests 15, this index reports 12, and the other 40 need a person to check them.

This is not a certification and not a legal assessment.

Test details

Developer: Switch
Price: $420 USD
Version tested: 5.4.0, released August 4, 2026
Style: Baseline
Scan date: September 29, 2026
Demo store: baseline-preset-modern-2.myshopify.com
Theme Store: Theme Store page
Pages: Home page: tested, 20 findings
Collection page: tested, 9 findings
Product page: tested, 3 findings
Cart page: tested, 3 findings

What the test found

Button without a name

WCAG 2.2 4.1.2 Name, role, value, Level A

16 occurrences, found on: Home 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: button.min-touch-target

Form field without a label

WCAG 2.2 1.3.1 Info and relationships, Level A

5 occurrences, found on: Collection 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.range-control__edge (type="range")
input.range-control__center (type="range")
input#filter-drop-down-filter-v-price-2-from-x-mask (type="text")

aria-labelledby or aria-describedby points to a missing element

WCAG 2.2 4.1.2 Name, role, value, Level A

12 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 → "left-drawer-slot"
aria-labelledby → "right-drawer-slot"
aria-labelledby → "quick-buy-drawer-slot-container"

Heading levels skip a step

WCAG 2.2 1.3.1 Info and relationships, Level A

1 occurrence, found on: Collection 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: h1 → h3

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.

Evaluated criteria without findings: 10 of 12

Without findings means the automated test found nothing for the criterion on these pages. Several of these criteria can only be tested in part by a machine.

1.1.1 Non-text content (Level A)
1.4.2 Audio control (Level A)
1.4.4 Resize text (Level AA)
2.4.1 Bypass blocks (Level A)
2.4.2 Page titled (Level A)
2.4.3 Focus order (Level A)
2.4.4 Link purpose (in context) (Level A)
3.1.1 Language of page (Level A)
3.2.1 On focus (Level A)
3.3.8 Accessible authentication (minimum) (Level AA)

Not evaluated in this index

1.4.3 Contrast (minimum) (Level AA): needs the rendered page with its stylesheets
2.4.11 Focus not obscured (minimum) (Level AA): needs the rendered page with its stylesheets
2.5.8 Target size (minimum) (Level AA): needs the rendered page with its stylesheets

Also noted, Level AAA

Level AAA goes beyond what EN 301 549, the standard behind the EAA and the BFSG, asks for. These points are listed for completeness and are not counted above.

Link opens a new tab without saying so (3.2.5 Change on request): 8

What this result does not tell you

The scanner checks 15 of the 55 WCAG 2.2 Level A and AA success criteria, some of them only in part, and this index reports 12 of them. Keyboard use, focus visibility, captions, error messages and most of what makes a checkout usable need a person to check.
Contrast (minimum), focus not obscured and target size are not evaluated here: they need the rendered page with its stylesheets, and this test does not load stylesheets. Their findings are left out of every count on this page.
It tests the demo store as it was on the scan date: demo content, settings and apps included. A store built on the same theme can have more or fewer findings.
The scanner reads the HTML the server sends, without running scripts or loading external stylesheets. Content that scripts add after the page loads is not part of this test.
It is not a certification and not a legal assessment of the theme or of any store that uses it.

How we test

Data licence: CC BY 4.0. Attribution: AccessifyAI Shopify theme accessibility index, accessifyai.de

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Your store has its own content, apps and settings on top of the theme. The free scanner runs the same rules on your storefront and shows every finding with its WCAG criterion.

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For the developer of Baseline

If you have released a fix for any of these findings, or you think a result is wrong, write to support@accessifyai.de with “Baseline” and the version number. We scan the demo store again and update this page with the new date.

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