Accessible by Design: A 2025 WCAG and ADA Checklist for Shopify and DTC Brands That Improves UX Without Hurting Conversion

If you sell online, accessibility is no longer a nice-to-have. It is a customer experience multiplier, an SEO helper, and in 2025 it is also a compliance must across multiple jurisdictions. The World Health Organization notes that an estimated 1.3 billion people, or 16 percent of the global population, live with significant disability, which is one in six of us according to the WHO fact sheet on disability and health (https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/disability-and-health). In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that more than one in four adults, over 70 million Americans, reported having a disability in 2022, as described in the CDC media statement on adult disability prevalence (https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2024/s0716-Adult-disability.html).

This guide is your practical, Shopify-first checklist to meet WCAG and ADA expectations while you protect conversion. It covers what changed with WCAG 2.2, what the DOJ clarified, how the European Accessibility Act affects ecommerce in 2025, and how to implement storewide improvements that typically increase revenue rather than add friction.


## Why accessibility is a growth lever in 2025

Accessibility reduces friction for everyone, not only customers using assistive tech. That translates into higher conversions, fewer support tickets, and a stronger brand. The Baymard Institute’s large-scale checkout usability study finds that the average site has 32 unique improvements available in the checkout flow and can gain an estimated 35 percent increase in conversion rate by addressing them, as summarized in the Baymard research on checkout usability (https://baymard.com/research/checkout-usability).

There is also a real compliance and legal backdrop you can no longer ignore:

- The Department of Justice’s guidance explains that the ADA applies to websites of businesses open to the public, and that WCAG and Section 508 are appropriate technical references, as described in the DOJ’s Guidance on Web Accessibility and the ADA (https://www.ada.gov/resources/web-guidance/).

- In April 2024, the DOJ finalized a Title II rule that requires state and local government web content and mobile apps to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA, which is documented in the DOJ fact sheet on the new rule (https://www.ada.gov/resources/2024-03-08-web-rule/). While Title II does not directly govern private ecommerce, it sets a clear technical baseline that courts and counsel often mirror when assessing private sector sites.

- Lawsuits keep coming. UsableNet’s 2024 year-end analysis reports over 4,000 ADA lawsuits related to digital properties, with ecommerce being the primary target and more than 25 percent of cases filed against sites that had an accessibility widget present, as reported in UsableNet’s 2024 Digital Accessibility Lawsuit Report summary (https://blog.usablenet.com/2024-digital-accessibility-lawsuit-report-relased-insights-for-2025).

- If you sell into the EU, the European Accessibility Act comes into effect on June 28, 2025. The European Commission lists ecommerce among covered services (https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/policies/justice-and-fundamental-rights/disability/union-equality-strategy-rights-persons-disabilities-2021-2030/european-accessibility-act_en), and the AccessibleEU center confirms the June 28, 2025 effective date (https://accessible-eu-centre.ec.europa.eu/content-corner/news/eaa-comes-effect-june-2025-are-you-ready-2025-01-31_en).

Finally, accessibility is still a webwide problem to fix, which is an opportunity for brands that move fast. The WebAIM Million 2024 report found 95.9 percent of home pages had detectable WCAG failures and an average of 56.8 errors per page, with low contrast text on 81 percent of pages and missing alternative text on 54.5 percent, as detailed in the WebAIM Million 2024 report (https://webaim.org/projects/million/2024).

## WCAG 2.2 in plain English for ecommerce

WCAG 2.2 is the current W3C Recommendation, and it added important success criteria that map directly to storefront UX. The W3C lists the new criteria, including Focus Not Obscured, Focus Appearance, Dragging Movements, Target Size Minimum, Consistent Help, Redundant Entry, and Accessible Authentication, in the WCAG 2.2 spec’s new features section (https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/).

A few highlights relevant to Shopify and DTC teams:

- Focus Not Obscured (AA) and Focus Appearance (AAA) ensure keyboard users can always see where they are and that the focus indicator is visible enough. This matters for menus, cart drawers, and modals.

- Dragging Movements (AA) means features like sliders or product reordering need single-pointer alternatives that do not require drag, which helps shoppers on motor assist devices.

- Target Size Minimum (AA) sets a minimum 24 by 24 CSS pixels for tap targets with exemptions. You can meet this by increasing hit areas rather than enlarging visual elements.

- Consistent Help (A) ensures support options like live chat, FAQs, or contact links appear consistently across pages.

- Redundant Entry (A) stops frustrating re-typing of addresses or emails during checkout when you already have the data.

- Accessible Authentication (AA) discourages cognitive tests like hard-to-read CAPTCHAs, and encourages support for password managers and copy paste.

## Shopify, themes, and the ecosystem in 2025

Shopify acknowledges WCAG as the guiding principle. Shopify’s Accessibility Statement says the company uses WCAG 2.2 as its guiding standard and provides VPATs for core products and the Dawn theme (https://www.shopify.com/accessibility). Shopify’s help center gives practical guidelines on color contrast, alt text, keyboard focus, and video behavior for themes, which is documented in Shopify’s “Accessibility for themes” page (https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-store/themes/customizing-themes/accessibility). For theme developers, Shopify’s best practices recommend keyboard operability, skip links, correct heading structure, ARIA for dynamic content, adequate contrast, and minimum touch target sizes, as outlined in the Shopify developer docs on accessibility best practices (https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/best-practices/accessibility).

If you are launching or replatforming, starting with an accessible-by-default theme on Shopify will reduce remediation later. If you want a modern platform with strong accessibility guidance and ecosystem support, consider getting started with Shopify through this link to evaluate plans and themes [Shopify](https://shopify.pxf.io/4PQaE3).

For DTC founders who prefer to move in short sprints with a marketing-led theme approach, PixiGrow’s guide on building a modular Shopify theme for marketers can help you ship accessible components faster by design, as covered in the PixiGrow article on modular themes (https://pixigrow.com/blog/modular-shopify-theme-for-marketers). Pair this with our 30-day brand build framework to plan accessible content patterns from day one (https://pixigrow.com/blog/30-day-guide-to-building-a-flexible-ecommerce-brand).


## The 2025 accessibility checklist for Shopify and DTC brands

Below is a storefront-focused checklist mapped to WCAG 2.2 AA and ADA guidance, with calls to Shopify documentation and tools where helpful. Treat it as a sequence you can implement in sprints.

1) Color, contrast, and typography

- Meet contrast minimums. WCAG 2.2 requires 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text, as specified in WCAG 2.2’s Contrast Minimum success criterion (https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/#contrast-minimum). Shopify’s help page explains practical thresholds for body and heading text and also for non-text UI like input borders or icons (https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-store/themes/customizing-themes/accessibility).

- Avoid color-only cues. Include text labels or icons when indicating required fields or statuses, which aligns with WCAG’s Use of Color criterion (https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/#use-of-color).

- Respect text scaling up to 200 percent without loss of content, consistent with WCAG’s Resize Text requirement (https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/#resize-text).

2) Keyboard navigation and focus

- Ensure every interactive control is keyboard operable, with visible focus order matching DOM order, aligning with WCAG’s Keyboard Accessible guideline and Shopify’s developer best practices on keyboard support (https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/best-practices/accessibility#keyboard-support) and Focus Visible (https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/#focus-visible).

- Add skip to content links and mark main regions so keyboard users bypass headers and ads, as recommended in Shopify’s dev docs on skip links and regions (https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/best-practices/accessibility#global) and in WCAG’s Bypass Blocks (https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/#bypass-blocks).

- Prevent focus from being obscured by sticky headers or drawers, to meet Focus Not Obscured (https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/#focus-not-obscured-minimum).

3) Forms and checkout

- Label every input explicitly. The WebAIM Million 2024 shows Missing form labels on 48.6 percent of home pages (https://webaim.org/projects/million/2024). Use visible labels, aria-label, or aria-labelledby, and associate errors with inputs via aria-describedby, which Shopify documents under Forms and Form errors (https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/best-practices/accessibility#forms).

- Provide inline, descriptive errors that state what went wrong and how to fix it, and do not erase customer-entered data on refresh. This aligns with WCAG Error Identification and Error Suggestion (https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/#error-identification and https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/#error-suggestion) and is echoed in Baymard’s research on validation and field microcopy improving completion (https://baymard.com/research/checkout-usability).

- Enable autofill and the correct autocomplete attributes so browsers and password managers help users, which supports Accessible Authentication and Identify Input Purpose in WCAG, and is noted in Shopify’s form best practices (https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/best-practices/accessibility#forms).

- Avoid redundant entry. If the shopper already provided an email or shipping address earlier, auto populate or provide a selection option to comply with WCAG’s Redundant Entry (https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/#redundant-entry).

4) Media, motion, and carousels

- Provide captions for all videos with speech, and transcripts where appropriate, as required by WCAG Captions and Time-based Media guidelines (https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/#time-based-media). Shopify’s help page on slideshow and video accessibility reinforces not auto playing and ensuring controls are visible (https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-store/themes/customizing-themes/accessibility#slideshow-and-video-accessibility).

- Respect reduced motion preferences, and allow pausing animations, consistent with WCAG’s Pause, Stop, Hide (https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/#pause-stop-hide). If you use animated banners or reveal effects, follow the motion considerations in the PixiGrow motion graphics playbook to keep performance and comfort high (https://pixigrow.com/blog/ecommerce-motion-graphics-playbook-for-speed).

5) Images and alt text

- Provide meaningful alternative text for informative images, and empty alt for decorative ones, aligning with WCAG Non-text Content (https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/#non-text-content). Shopify’s help center shows where to add alt text for product and theme images (https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-store/themes/customizing-themes/accessibility#alternative-text-for-images).

- Be mindful that WebAIM’s 2024 analysis found 21.6 percent of images lacked alt text and one out of every four linked images was missing alt text (https://webaim.org/projects/million/2024). Tightening this improves both screen reader UX and SEO.

6) Touch targets and gestures

- Meet the WCAG 2.2 Target Size Minimum of 24 by 24 CSS pixels or ensure adequate spacing to avoid accidental taps (https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/#target-size-minimum). Shopify’s developer guidance suggests 44 by 44 pixels for primary touch targets, which you can interpret as a generous mobile tap target standard (https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/best-practices/accessibility#touch-screen-and-mobile-devices).

- Provide single-pointer alternatives to dragging, and ensure essential interactions like variant selection are accessible with taps or clicks, matching Dragging Movements (https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/#dragging-movements).

7) Structure, headings, and language

- Use one h1 per page to describe the primary topic, and keep headings in sequence without skipping levels, which Shopify’s docs emphasize (https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/best-practices/accessibility#headings). The WebAIM Million notes frequent heading misuse and skipped levels that confuse screen reader users (https://webaim.org/projects/million/2024).

- Set the lang attribute correctly on html and on parts that switch languages, aligning with WCAG Language of Page and Language of Parts (https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/#language-of-page). If you sell internationally, plan multi-language content and currency properly, and review PixiGrow’s guide on localization and compliance for Shopify (https://pixigrow.com/blog/localize-shopify-multi-language-currency-compliance).

8) Dynamic components, modals, and status messages

- Use semantic HTML first. Add ARIA only where necessary and implement it correctly for menus, dialogs, and live regions. Shopify’s docs outline proper roles and key handling for dropdowns and modals (https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/best-practices/accessibility#drop-down-menu-navigation and https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/best-practices/accessibility#drawers-and-modals).

- Announce to assistive technologies when content updates without page reload using aria-live, which Shopify’s docs recommend under product information and form errors (https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/best-practices/accessibility#product-information). WCAG’s Status Messages criterion requires these changes be programmatically determined (https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/#status-messages).

9) Help and support consistency

- Place consistent help options in the same relative order across similar pages to meet WCAG’s Consistent Help (https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/#consistent-help). A pinned help icon, a contact link in the header, and an FAQ entry point in footers can satisfy this when kept consistent.

10) Authentication, CAPTCHAs, and timeouts

- Support password managers and paste in login fields, and do not require cognitive puzzles during authentication, which meets Accessible Authentication (https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/#accessible-authentication-minimum). Use non-intrusive bot protection or alternative mechanisms.

- If your site uses session timeouts, communicate clearly and allow easy extension, consistent with WCAG Timing Adjustable and industry privacy obligations (https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/#timing-adjustable).

11) Content that moves or flashes

- Avoid auto-rotating carousels or allow users to pause and control them, and never include flashing content beyond allowed thresholds, which aligns with Pause, Stop, Hide and Three Flashes or Below Threshold (https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/#seizures-and-physical-reactions). Nielsen Norman Group’s carousel research shows usability issues, which Shopify references in its help resources.

## How to measure, test, and ship changes without hurting conversion

The fastest path to progress is to pair automated checks with targeted manual testing, then A/B test where you suspect conversion risk.

- Use automated scanners wisely. The DOJ guidance itself advises pairing automated checkers with manual review to get a clearer picture of accessibility, as noted in the “Checking for accessibility” section of the DOJ’s guidance (https://www.ada.gov/resources/web-guidance/).

- Run Lighthouse accessibility audits and integrate the Shopify Lighthouse CI action to prevent regressions during theme updates, which Shopify documents for developers (https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/tools/lighthouse-ci).

- Add the free axe DevTools extension to catch common WCAG issues in the browser and get remediation guidance, as described by Deque’s axe DevTools page (https://www.deque.com/axe/devtools/chrome-browser-extension/). Pair with WAVE for a second opinion (https://wave.webaim.org/).

- Validate color choices with a contrast ratio tool. Shopify’s help page links to reliable testers, and WCAG’s thresholds give you the numeric targets to hit (https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-store/themes/customizing-themes/accessibility#text-accessibility).

- Track conversion after you implement fixes. Baymard’s research indicates checkout UX improvements typically increase conversion by double digits, not reduce it (https://baymard.com/research/checkout-usability). If you are nervous, A/B test one section at a time.

If you need a structured sprint plan to ship improvements fast, lean on the PixiGrow sprint process for growth teams and marketing engineering, which we outline in our guide to scaling a Shopify brand with sprints and motion (https://pixigrow.com/blog/scale-a-dtc-shopify-brand-with-sprints-motion). For CRO-friendly UX patterns that respect accessibility constraints, explore our 27 ecommerce UX patterns article (https://pixigrow.com/blog/27-ecommerce-ux-patterns-to-lift-aov-in-2025).


## What ADA and EAA compliance looks like in practice

- ADA Title III. The DOJ’s 2022 guidance clarifies that the ADA applies to businesses open to the public, and that inaccessible web content can deny equal access just as steps at a physical entrance would. The same page lists common barriers such as poor color contrast, missing alt text, uncaptionsed video, inaccessible forms, and mouse-only navigation, as described in the DOJ guidance (https://www.ada.gov/resources/web-guidance/). Courts and settlements often use WCAG 2.1 AA as a practical benchmark for private sites.

- ADA Title II. Public entities must meet WCAG 2.1 AA under the 2024 final rule, with a clear compliance timeline based on population size, as detailed in the DOJ fact sheet (https://www.ada.gov/resources/2024-03-08-web-rule/). While private businesses are Title III, this rule signals the federal technical yardstick.

- EU EAA. If you sell to EU consumers through an ecommerce website or app, plan to meet accessibility requirements from June 28, 2025. The EC highlights ecommerce as in scope (https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/policies/justice-and-fundamental-rights/disability/union-equality-strategy-rights-persons-disabilities-2021-2030/european-accessibility-act_en) and AccessibleEU reiterates the effective date (https://accessible-eu-centre.ec.europa.eu/content-corner/news/eaa-comes-effect-june-2025-are-you-ready-2025-01-31_en).

Pragmatically, WCAG 2.2 AA is the best target standard for modern ecommerce.

## A phased plan you can run in four weeks

Week 1: Assess

- Run Lighthouse and axe DevTools on home, collection, product, cart, checkout, and account pages. Capture errors and map each to a WCAG criterion.

- Inventory color tokens and fonts. Test contrast across all common combinations.

- Document critical journeys and note any keyboard traps or missing focus outlines.

Week 2: Fix the quick wins

- Update color tokens to meet 4.5:1 for body and 3:1 for headings. Adjust button and link styles to be distinct beyond color.

- Add alt text to hero images and top 100 product images. Set alt="" on decorative icons.

- Turn off auto play on slideshows and ensure video captions are present.

Week 3: Forms and navigation

- Add explicit labels and aria-describedby for errors on all checkout and account forms. Enable autocomplete and support paste in login fields.

- Insert skip links and ensure the main region is focusable. Fix keyboard traps in drawers and modals.

- Increase tap target spacing or sizes to meet 24 by 24 CSS pixels for primary controls.

Week 4: Validate, document, and train

- Re-run audits and manual keyboard walkthroughs. Verify focus remains visible and unobscured throughout.

- Write a one-page internal accessibility standard for your store. Include how to write alt text, how to test contrast, and how to QA focus order.

- Train your content and design team. Add checks to your design review and release checklist.

If you want an expert partner to shoulder this work async, PixiGrow delivers accessible landing pages, Shopify sections, and creative systems on a subscription that fits startup budgets. Explore our plans and Slack-based workflow on the PixiGrow site (https://pixigrow.com/) or get in touch to scope a four week sprint (https://pixigrow.com/contact). We also publish playbooks and competitor analysis for founders on our blog (https://pixigrow.com/blog).

## Common pitfalls to avoid

- Relying on overlays. Lawsuit trends in 2024 show that more than a thousand businesses were sued despite having accessibility widgets, which UsableNet highlights in its 2024 analysis (https://blog.usablenet.com/2024-digital-accessibility-lawsuit-report-relased-insights-for-2025). Overlays do not fix underlying code and can create new barriers.

- Using color alone for error messages or inline status. Add icons and text, and set role and aria-live where appropriate so screen readers announce the change.

- Hiding focus outlines. A custom focus ring that meets 3:1 contrast solves brand concerns while keeping the page navigable.

- Overusing ARIA. The WebAIM Million reports that pages using ARIA often have more errors, likely due to complexity or misuse (https://webaim.org/projects/million/2024). Prefer native HTML controls and add ARIA carefully.

## Tie it back to growth

Accessibility upgrades typically reduce friction where shoppers abandon. That is why checkout best practices and accessible forms correlate with conversion increases. Baymard’s research consistently shows that fixing validation, field labels, and interaction clarity can recapture a large portion of otherwise lost orders (https://baymard.com/research/checkout-usability). Better contrast and larger tap targets will also lift mobile engagement, while captions and transcripts improve video comprehension and discoverability.

Designing for accessibility is designing for speed and clarity, which is exactly what high performing DTC funnels need. If you want help turning this checklist into shipped templates, motion, and CRO-tested landing pages, the PixiGrow model gets you there quickly with predictable monthly pricing, fast turnaround, and unlimited revisions in our Premium plan (https://pixigrow.com/).


## Helpful tools and references

- WCAG 2.2 specification and the What’s New overview for new criteria, via the W3C (https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/ and https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/new-in-22/)

- DOJ Guidance on Web Accessibility and the ADA for Title III context (https://www.ada.gov/resources/web-guidance/)

- DOJ Final Rule fact sheet for Title II, to understand the federal baseline of WCAG 2.1 AA (https://www.ada.gov/resources/2024-03-08-web-rule/)

- European Accessibility Act overview and effective date callout (https://commission.europa.eu/.../european-accessibility-act_en and https://accessible-eu-centre.ec.europa.eu/content-corner/news/eaa-comes-effect-june-2025-are-you-ready-2025-01-31_en)

- Shopify Help on theme accessibility for pragmatic guidance (https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-store/themes/customizing-themes/accessibility) and Shopify dev best practices (https://shopify.dev/docs/storefronts/themes/best-practices/accessibility)

- Automated testing with Lighthouse and axe DevTools (https://developers.google.com/web/tools/lighthouse and https://www.deque.com/axe/devtools/chrome-browser-extension/) plus WAVE checks (https://wave.webaim.org/)

- WebAIM Million 2024 for common error benchmarks (https://webaim.org/projects/million/2024)

- Baymard checkout UX research on conversion impact (https://baymard.com/research/checkout-usability)

When in doubt, follow the simplest rule of all: if a control can be seen, reached, and understood by everyone, your store will sell more and support less.

Explore how PixiGrow can help you turn this checklist into high converting creative, pages, and Shopify sections at scale (https://pixigrow.com/), and browse our playbooks on testing ad creatives in seven days (https://pixigrow.com/blog/dtc-ad-creative-testing-os-in-7-days) and designing post purchase flows that educate and reduce returns (https://pixigrow.com/blog/shopify-post-purchase-tracking-education-upsells).