Shopify Accessibility and Compliance

The Shopify 100: One Hundred Free Homepage Accessibility Audits (7 Days Only)

We’re giving away 100 homepage audits to Shopify store owners — normally a paid service — at no cost. Each audit is a 30-minute professional evaluation, delivered inside the Accessibility Tracker platform so you can see your results and track fixes easily.

How It Works

1. Apply within 7 days (deadline September 1) – Email us your store URL and answer one question: “What’s the #1 reason you want this audit?”
2. Verification – Applications must come from your store’s domain-based email (example: name@yourstore.com).

What You’ll Get

Every store owner accepted into the campaign will receive:

• A professional accessibility audit of your store’s homepage (limit 30 minutes)
  • WCAG 2.1 AA desktop audit
• Full access to your audit inside Accessibility Tracker

Upgrade Option

Your homepage matters — but product, collection, cart, and checkout pages are where customers decide to buy. After receiving your free audit, you can expand to:

• 5-page audit – $750
• 10-page audit – $1,500

Full audits include WCAG 2.1 AA desktop + mobile audit with reports delivered through Accessibility Tracker.

Why We’re Doing This

We want to be the #1 accessibility provider for the Shopify community. We have the expertise and the platform. All we need now is for more Shopify owners to know about us.

Apply Now – 7 Days Only

Email us at info@accessible.org with:

• Your store’s domain name
• Your answer to: “What’s the #1 reason you want this audit?”

First 100 verified Shopify store owners only. Once spots are gone, the campaign closes.

FAQ

How soon will I get my audit back?

This campaign is first come, first serve until we reach 100 stores. Audits will be delivered in weekly batches of 20, with all 100 completed within 5 weeks.

Will this make my website ADA compliant?

No, we can’t find all of the issues in 30 minutes, but, even if we could, you’d still need to fix them.

Why can’t I email you from my personal email?

We need to make sure we’re auditing for only the store owner.

Will I be subscribed to an email list?

No, we’ll only email you for purposes of this campaign.

What is Accessibility Tracker?

Our platform that allows you to track accessibility issues from your audit report.

Is Accessibility Tracker free?

Yes, there are free and paid plans. You only need a free plan to receive your audit and track fixes.

Can I move forward with a full audit right away?

Yes, just let us know in your initial email and we’ll send you a proposal.

Website accessibility has become a critical legal issue for Shopify store owners. They face frequent ADA lawsuits in the United States and, as of June 2025, must meet European Accessibility Act requirements when selling to EU customers. WCAG 2.1 AA serves as a technical standard for best practice for compliance in both markets.

ADA Compliance

Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act covers places of public accommodation. Section 12181 specifically lists “a bakery, grocery store, clothing store, hardware store, shopping center, or other sales or rental establishment” among the covered entities. Ecommerce websites selling products fall directly into this category.

The Department of Justice’s stance is clear: “businesses, including nonprofits, that serve the public (also called public accommodations) include” shops among other private entities. This implicitly requires ecommerce websites to be ADA compliant.

Plaintiffs’ law firms have filed thousands of lawsuits against Shopify stores. They target ecommerce specifically because online stores clearly constitute places of public accommodation under the law. The litigation shows no signs of slowing down.

Read our collosal Shopify ADA compliance guide to learn how to prevent ADA website compliance lawsuits.

EAA Compliance

The European Accessibility Act applies to all Shopify stores selling to EU customers. The directive explicitly includes e-commerce services within its scope. The European Accessibility Act (EAA) explicitly defines e-commerce services as “services provided at a distance, through websites and mobile device-based services by electronic means and at the individual request of a consumer with a view to concluding a consumer contract.” This definition encompasses all Shopify stores selling to EU customers, regardless of where the business is located.

For more on the administrative obligations and technical requirements for Shopify store owners, read our Shopify EAA compliance guide.

The EAA adopts the same four principles as WCAG: perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust. Work done for ADA compliance can also satisfies EAA requirements, but keep in mind the EAA also has administrative obligations as well as technical requirements.

The EAA is already in effect and non-compliant store owners risk potential fines for non-compliance. The microenterprise exception applies to businesses with fewer than 10 employees and annual turnover under €2 million.

WCAG 2.1 AA: The Technical Standard

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 at Level AA contains 50 success criteria that websites must meet for conformance. These criteria fall under four principles:

Perceivable

Information and user interface components must be presentable in ways users can perceive. This includes text alternatives for images, captions for videos, and sufficient color contrast.

Operable

User interface components and navigation must be operable. Every function must work via keyboard, users must have enough time to read content, and nothing should cause seizures.

Understandable

Information and operation of the user interface must be understandable. This means readable text, predictable functionality, and input assistance when users make errors.

Robust

Content must be robust enough for interpretation by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies. This requires valid code and proper semantic markup.

Shopify Theme Architecture and Accessibility

Shopify themes consist of multiple Liquid template files that control different aspects of your store. Each file presents accessibility considerations:

• main-product.liquid – Product information, images, variants, add to cart functionality
• footer.liquid – Navigation links, newsletter signup, social media connections
• header.liquid – Main navigation, search, account access
• main-search.liquid – Search results and filtering
• checkout.liquid – Payment processing and order completion

These files contain dynamic elements that must be coded accessibly. Form fields need programmatic labels. Interactive elements require proper ARIA attributes. Navigation must work via keyboard without trapping focus.

The Dawn theme, Shopify’s default, is not accessible out of the box despite claims otherwise. Shopify requires themes in their store to have a Google Lighthouse accessibility score of 90, but Lighthouse only flags a limited subset of accessibility issues. A perfect Lighthouse score doesn’t equal WCAG conformance.

Common Accessibility Issues in Shopify Stores

Missing Alternative Text

Product images without alt text prevent screen reader users from understanding what you’re selling. Decorative images need empty alt attributes to be properly ignored by assistive technology.

Poor Color Contrast

Gray text on white backgrounds often fails the 4.5:1 contrast ratio required for normal text. Sale prices shown only through color changes aren’t perceivable to colorblind users.

Inaccessible Forms

Placeholder text that disappears when users start typing leaves no persistent label for reference. Generic error messages like “Invalid input” don’t explain what needs correction.

Keyboard Traps

Dropdown menus and modal dialogs that don’t allow keyboard users to escape create navigation barriers. Interactive elements without visible focus indicators leave keyboard users guessing their location.

Mobile Barriers

Touch targets smaller than 44×44 pixels are difficult for users with motor impairments. Gesture-only controls without alternative methods exclude users who can’t perform precise movements.

The Audit and Remediation Process

A manual accessibility audit examines every aspect of a Shopify store against WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria. Unlike automated scans that flag approximately 25% of issues, manual audits identify all accessibility barriers.

The audit produces a detailed report documenting:

• Issue location in theme files
• WCAG criterion violated
• User impact
• Recommended fix with code examples

Remediation involves fixing both code and content issues. This means editing Liquid templates, adding ARIA attributes, ensuring keyboard navigation, fixing color contrast, and implementing proper form labels.

A typical 100-issue Shopify audit takes 8-10 weeks to remediate using traditional methods. The work happens across multiple theme files and requires both development skills and accessibility knowledge.

Validation confirms each fix actually resolves the accessibility barrier. This happens throughout remediation to ensure issues are properly addressed, not just modified.

User Testing and Documentation

User testing involves accessibility professionals who are (usually) blind or visually impaired navigating your store with screen readers. They attempt real tasks like finding products, adding items to cart, and completing checkout.

This testing produces video documentation showing your store works for people with disabilities. The evidence demonstrates genuine accessibility beyond technical compliance.

User testing reveals issues automated tools and sighted testers miss. Screen reader users experience websites differently than visual users, encountering barriers that aren’t obvious through standard testing.

Shopify Apps and Overlay Widgets

No accessibility app in the Shopify App Store will make your website ADA compliant or stop lawsuits. These tools cannot fix code-level issues in theme files or add meaningful alternative text to products.

Overlay widgets actually increase lawsuit risk. Plaintiffs’ lawyers target websites with widgets because they signal the owner hasn’t done real accessibility work. Some lawyers specifically search for widget usage when identifying lawsuit targets.

The only way to make a Shopify store accessible is through manual remediation of actual code and content issues.

Maintenance

Once your Shopify store is WCAG conformant, compliance mandates that you maintain that accessibility. This means implementing WCAG into your development, design, and content creation processes. It also means reviewing all third-party integrations for WCAG conformance. Ask for a VPAT / ACR from the product or service provider to see an accounting of the accessibility.

The Business Impact of Accessibility

Beyond legal compliance, accessible stores see operational improvements. Customer service tickets decrease when forms have clear labels and error messages. Mobile conversion improves when touch targets are properly sized.

Accessibility improvements benefit all users, not just those with disabilities. Clearer navigation helps everyone find products faster. Better form labels reduce errors for all customers. Improved color contrast makes text readable in bright sunlight.

The market opportunity includes millions of customers with disabilities who have disposable income but can’t use inaccessible websites. When you’re one of the few accessible options in your market, you capture customers your competitors can’t serve.

Getting Started

The path to compliance follows a specific sequence:

1. Audit – Identify all WCAG 2.1 AA issues
2. Prioritize – Focus on high-traffic pages and conversion paths
3. Remediate – Fix code and content systematically
4. Validate – Confirm fixes resolve barriers
5. Test – Document accessibility with real users
6. Maintain – Keep accessibility as you update your store

This process makes your Shopify store accessible and also materially compliant with the law.

Learn more about how Accessible.org can help you with accessibility and compliance.