Theme Development

Shopify Accessibility for Store Owners: WCAG Basics That Matter

An accessible store works for more people: those using screen readers, keyboards, magnification, or simply a phone in bright sunlight. The fixes are mostly ordinary good practice, and many also help SEO and conversion.

By FlowCart Agency · · 7 min read

What WCAG is

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are the widely used standard for web accessibility. Most organisations and regulations aim for level AA. Accessibility laws and expectations vary by country and change over time, so treat this as practical guidance rather than legal advice.

Visual basics

  • Colour contrast: normal text should have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 against its background.
  • Do not rely on colour alone to convey meaning, such as red for errors with no text.
  • Allow text to scale and keep layouts usable when zoomed.
  • Make focus states visible so keyboard users can see where they are.

Structure and content

  • Use one H1 and a logical heading order.
  • Write meaningful alt text for informative images, and empty alt for purely decorative ones.
  • Use descriptive link text instead of "click here".
  • Label form fields, and give clear error messages.

Several of these overlap with SEO. See our Shopify SEO checklist.

Keyboard and interaction

  • Everything clickable must be reachable and usable with the keyboard alone.
  • Menus, modals, cart drawers and filters need proper focus handling.
  • Tap targets should be large enough to hit comfortably on a phone.
  • Avoid autoplaying motion, or provide a way to stop it.

How to test your store

  1. Try to buy something using only the keyboard.
  2. Run an automated checker on key pages, and treat it as a starting point, since these tools catch only part of the issues.
  3. Zoom the page to 200% and check nothing breaks.
  4. Try a screen reader on the product and checkout flow.
  5. Fix theme-level problems at the source so they apply everywhere.

Our accessibility (WCAG) work covers audits and fixes.

Frequently asked questions

Is my Shopify store accessible by default?
Shopify's themes vary. Many follow accessibility practices, but customisations, apps and content can introduce problems, so test your own store.
What WCAG level should a Shopify store aim for?
Level AA is the common target. It covers contrast, keyboard access, labels and structure.
Does accessibility help SEO?
Indirectly, yes. Clear headings, alt text, descriptive links and a fast, usable site help both people and search engines.

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