Guide

Shopify accessibility & the EAA

Last updated: 29 June 2026

If you run a Shopify store that sells to consumers in the EU, web accessibility is no longer optional: the European Accessibility Act has been mandatory since 28 June 2025, and e-commerce is explicitly in scope. The reassuring part is that most Shopify stores share the same handful of accessibility problems, and you can find them yourself. (General information, not legal advice.)

Why Shopify stores are in scope

The EAA covers consumer-facing e-commerce services sold in the EU, and US stores face ADA exposure too. Both effectively measure against WCAG 2.2 Level AA. Using Shopify doesn't make your store accessible by default — the responsibility for the storefront is yours. See EAA for e-commerce for the broader picture.

Where the issues come from

  • Your theme. The biggest factor. Themes vary widely; "accessible" claims aren't guarantees, and customisations can break what the theme got right.
  • Apps. Pop-ups, reviews widgets, cookie banners, and upsell apps inject markup you didn't write — a common source of contrast, focus, and keyboard problems.
  • Your content. Product images without alt text, "click here" links, colour-only sale badges, and PDFs are all owner-controlled.
  • Checkout. On most plans checkout is Shopify-controlled (you have limited edit access; Shopify Plus offers more). Still test it — it's the most important flow.

The common problems to look for

  • Colour contrast on sale prices, buttons, and muted text — see contrast requirements.
  • Missing product alt text — every meaningful image needs a description (alt text best practices).
  • Keyboard & focus — mega-menus, image galleries, variant pickers, and modal pop-ups that can't be operated or escaped with a keyboard (keyboard testing).
  • Form labels on search, newsletter sign-up, and checkout fields (accessible forms).
  • Heading structure — one h1 per page, no skipped levels.
  • Colour-only meaning — "in stock" / "sale" shown by colour alone.

What you can and can't control

You fully control your content and largely control your theme (pick an accessibility-minded theme, fix what you can in the editor/code). Apps are partly in your control — audit them and drop or replace the worst offenders. Checkout is mostly Shopify's domain on non-Plus plans, so test it and report blocking issues, but focus your fixing energy where you have the most leverage: theme + content + apps.

How to audit your store

You don't need to check every product page — you need to check every template. Audit one representative page of each: home, collection (PLP), product (PDP), cart, and checkout, plus search and account. Scan your store free with WCAGwise on each template to find the WCAG 2.2 AA issues and exactly where they are, then do the manual keyboard/screen-reader pass — automated checks catch a meaningful share but not everything. With Pro you can roll those template scans into one client-ready report. WCAGwise is an audit aid, not a legal guarantee.

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