What we found on 5 real Shopify stores
We checked five independent Shopify stores selling jewellery and skincare. Every one of them had accessibility errors, and the most serious came from apps, not from the theme.
Key findings
- 5 of 5 stores had automated accessibility failures.
- Up to 79 errors on a single product page.
- 5 of 5 stores had images, icons or links without a text name, so screen readers could not say what they were.
- 4 of 5 stores had text that was too faint to read: announcement bars, sale badges and banner titles.
- The worst problem we saw was inside a subscription app, on the page where people decide what to buy.
Errors on the worst page of each store
Automated check with axe-core against WCAG 2.2 AA rules. One product page and the home page were checked per store; the chart shows the page with more errors.
| Store | Home page | Product page |
|---|---|---|
| Skincare store, US | 10 | 79 |
| Skincare store, Japan | 63 | not checked |
| Jewellery store A, US | 5 | 13 |
| Jewellery store B, US | 13 | 4 |
| Jewellery store C, US | 7 | 7 |
What the problems were
1. A purchase option that a screen reader could not read
On one skincare store, the choice between a one-time purchase and a subscription came from a third-party app. Each option was built as a generic clickable box inside another clickable box, without a name. A screen reader user hears "button" and cannot tell which option they are choosing, or what it costs.
2. Icons and images without names
Every store had at least one. Examples: a logo link with no text on every page, gallery zoom and arrow buttons that a screen reader announces only as "button", trust badges and slider arrows without descriptions.
3. Text too faint to read
Free-shipping announcement bars, white text on pink "SALE" badges, crossed-out prices and banner headings over photos all fell below the minimum contrast WCAG requires. On one product page alone there were 42 contrast failures.
4. Review and slider widgets
Review apps added star-rating controls too small to tap reliably and voting buttons whose visible text and spoken name did not match. Slider apps added arrow buttons without names and markup that confuses screen readers.
What this means for store owners
- Your theme is probably not the main problem. Shopify's own themes are reviewed for accessibility. Most errors arrive later, with apps, custom sections and brand styling.
- Check the buying path first: product options, subscription choices, add to cart and the cart itself.
- Announcement bars and badges are the easiest wins. A small colour change fixes most contrast failures without changing the brand.
- Automated tools are only the start. They found everything above, but keyboard and screen reader testing usually finds more, including the problems that actually stop a sale.
How we checked
- Stores: five independent Shopify stores found through public search; four in the US and one in Japan.
- Pages: the home page and one product page per store (home page only for the Japanese store).
- Tool: axe-core 4.14 with WCAG 2.2 AA rules, plus a short keyboard check.
- Counts include repeated elements: one faint badge used on eight products counts as eight errors.
- We did not log in, submit forms or change anything on these stores.
Curious how your store compares?
Send your store's address. You get the three most important problems with screenshots, free.
danil@reachablecart.com