Most Shopify stores have accessibility problems. Here is what a real audit covers, which issues come up most often, and what is worth fixing first.
I audit Shopify stores against WCAG 2.1 Level AA and help owners and developers understand what needs fixing and in what order. If that’s what you need, my contact form can help you fix your issues.
Why Shopify stores specifically struggle
The platform itself has made real progress on accessibility. The core checkout flow, for example, has improved significantly in recent years. But the ecosystem around it is patchy.
Most accessibility issues in Shopify stores come from three sources.
Themes. Even paid premium themes often have issues. Focus indicators get removed because they look ugly. Carousels and sliders are built without keyboard controls. Modals don’t trap focus or restore it when closed. These aren’t exotic edge cases, they’re standard component patterns done without accessibility in mind.
Third-party apps. Shopify’s app ecosystem is huge. Reviews widgets, loyalty programmes, live chat, pop-up builders, cookie banners. Almost all of these inject their own HTML and JavaScript into your storefront, and almost none of them prioritise accessibility. Each one is a potential source of new barriers.
Custom development. If you’ve had a developer customise your theme or build something bespoke, the accessibility of that work depends entirely on what the developer knew and cared about at the time.
What a Shopify accessibility audit covers
A proper audit goes page by page through your key templates and journeys: homepage, collection pages, individual product pages, cart, and checkout. It tests with a keyboard. It tests with a screen reader. It doesn’t just run an automated tool and call it done.
The kinds of issues that come up most often on Shopify stores:
Missing or inadequate product image alt text. Either blank, or filled with filename strings like product-image-1234.jpg. People using screen readers cannot understand what the product is.
Add to cart buttons that don’t announce their state. When a product is added or when a variant is out of stock, sighted users get a visual update. People using screen readers often get nothing.
Broken keyboard navigation in menus. Particularly on mobile-style navigation menus that use flyouts or mega menus. Tab order breaks, focus gets lost, escape key doesn’t close things.
Colour contrast failures. Sale badges, price text, secondary CTAs. These are common places where brand colours fail the 4.5:1 ratio required for normal text.
Pop-ups that don’t manage focus. Exit-intent overlays, email capture forms, cookie consent banners. Most of them dump focus somewhere unpredictable when they open and don’t return focus to the right place when they close.
Form errors that aren’t announced. If a user submits the checkout form with missing fields, the error messages need to be associated with the relevant inputs in a way screen readers can follow. Often they’re not.
What’s worth fixing first
Not all of these carry the same weight. The highest-priority items are the ones that block core journeys: a screen reader user being unable to add a product to their cart, or being unable to complete checkout, is a critical failure. Suboptimal alt text on secondary images is a lower priority.
A good audit tells you the difference. It doesn’t just give you a flat list of findings and leave you to guess.
A note on Shopify-specific constraints
Some things are easier to fix than others on Shopify. Liquid templates are very customisable. App-injected content is harder, because you may not control the code. The checkout on non-Plus plans has limited customisation options. A useful audit tells you not just what’s wrong but where the fix lives and how achievable it is given your setup.
If you want a WCAG audit of your Shopify store, or you’re a Shopify developer who wants code review on a theme build, get in touch via my contact form. I work with both store owners and developers depending on the situation.