Make your Shopify store truly accessible. EAA & WCAG, without an overlay

The truth: Shopify is not accessible by default

A default Shopify Online Store 2.0 theme like Dawn or Sense scores better than many webshops, but rarely meets WCAG 2.2 AA on its own. The moment you install apps, customise your theme or add products without alt text, barriers appear that your customers, and the European Accessibility Act, won't accept.

What commonly goes wrong on Shopify

• The AJAX cart drawer traps keyboard focusWhen a customer adds an item, the cart drawer slides in. In many Shopify themes focus stays trapped inside it, so keyboard and screen-reader users can no longer reach the checkout button.
• Predictive search without aria stateThe AJAX search suggestions often lack aria-expanded and a live region, so a screen reader never announces that results have appeared.
• Colour swatches and filters without stateVariant swatches and collection filters regularly miss aria-checked or aria-expanded, the user (and the machine) can't tell which filter or colour is active.
• Liquid images without alt textAuto-generated Liquid img tags often pass the alt text from the Shopify admin through empty or cryptic, unreadable for screen readers and Google.

What a real fix looks like

Take the cart icon button in your Liquid theme. Without an accessible name, a screen-reader user only hears 'button'. The fix is one attribute, no rebuild:

<button class="cart-toggle">
  {% render 'icon-cart' %}
</button>

<button class="cart-toggle" aria-label="{{ 'general.cart.title' | t }}">
  {% render 'icon-cart' %}
</button>

What you get

With a reporting tool you pay the licence and your developers to fix the issues. With Seviranta the fix is included, no double bill.

Protect your conversion and your legal standing

An app that slaps an accessibility icon over your Shopify site is a risk to your business. The facts:

My theme comes from the Theme Store. Isn't it already approved?

The Theme Store requires an average Lighthouse accessibility score of 90 and a list of basics: keyboard, visible focus, alt text, contrast, labels. That is a good base, but Lighthouse tests only part of WCAG, and your colours, content, apps and customisations come on top. A regulator tests the live store.

I also sell to Germany or France. What applies to my Shopify store there?

Germany: the BFSG has applied to B2C online stores since 28 June 2025, with an exemption for micro-enterprises (fewer than ten people and at most 2 million euros in turnover or balance sheet total); supervision by the Marktüberwachungsstelle der Länder (MLBF). France: since 28 June 2025 e-commerce falls under the EAA transposition in the Code de la consommation, with the same micro-enterprise exemption, supervised by the DGCCRF; the yardstick is the RGAA (WCAG 2.1 AA). In both countries the published store counts, not the fact that you use Shopify.

Can Seviranta scan and fix the Shopify checkout?

Scan, yes: we test the published pages, cart and checkout included. Fix: what sits in your theme and apps we deliver as a fix in your own code. What sits inside Shopify's checkout itself you can only influence through the branding settings. Our report makes that distinction, so your record is accurate.

Is a Shopify accessibility widget enough for the EAA?

No. A widget puts a layer over your site, but doesn't repair the underlying code and doesn't count as structural compliance.

Does my Shopify checkout fall under the EAA?

Yes. The checkout and navigation are explicitly part of the obligation under WCAG 2.1 AA.

Does Seviranta also scan my Shopify apps?

Yes. We test the final generated HTML, theme plus apps, the way a regulator does.

Will this slow my Shopify site down?

No. We scan externally from our EU servers; no script goes on your site. 0% impact on your load speed and Core Web Vitals.