From 17 WCAG Violations to Zero Critical Errors

The Challenge

17 violation types. Hundreds of pages affected.

• ✕

  Missing alt text

  Product and subcategory images had no alternative text, leaving screen-reader users with no idea what they were browsing.

• ✕

  Indiscernible links

  Link text on dozens of elements was empty or ambiguous — navigation announced as blank to assistive technology.

• ✕

  Zoom disabled

  Pinch-to-zoom was blocked at the viewport level — a hard barrier for low-vision shoppers and a critical WCAG failure on mobile.

• ✕

  Contrast as low as 1.80:1

  Gray body and link text failed WCAG AA minimum contrast ratios, in places dropping to 1.80:1 against the background.

• ✕

  Broken heading structure

  The page lacked a proper H1, headings skipped levels, and landmark regions were incomplete — confusing for screen reader navigation.

• ✕

  Unlabelled form controls

  Search and filter form controls had no accessible names, making them unusable via keyboard or assistive technology.

1. 01Full Multi-Tool Audit

   We ran Google Lighthouse, WAVE, and an axe-core based scanner — reconciling findings into a single Excel tracker mapped to WCAG success criteria, severity, affected template, and exact fix required.

2. 02Prioritised Remediation

   Template-level quick wins first — fixing alt-text handling, heading hierarchy, and viewport zoom resolved the same defect across hundreds of pages at once. We then worked down through serious and moderate issues.

3. 03Verification Re-Audit

   An independent re-scan across all three tools confirmed every remediation held. Each fix was verified against its WCAG criterion before being marked closed in the tracker.

4. 04Six-Month Review Cycle

   A recurring review keeps the site compliant as new products and pages go live. Template-level fixes mean new catalog entries are accessible by default.

• Three-tool audit methodology

  • ✓Google Lighthouse — structural and performance signals
  • ✓WAVE — visual contrast and form label detection
  • ✓axe-core scanner — precise WCAG criterion mapping

• Excel violation tracker

  Every issue mapped to its WCAG criterion, severity, responsible template, and exact fix. Turned 17 problems across 700 pages into a prioritised, manageable backlog.

• Template-first thinking

  One fix to the WooCommerce archive template resolved the same heading defect across 600 product and category pages simultaneously.

What We Fixed

Three clear workstreams.

• Critical & Structural

  • ✓Re-enabled pinch-to-zoom and viewport scaling
  • ✓Restored a single proper H1 on every template
  • ✓Corrected heading levels — no more skipped levels
  • ✓Added the missing main landmark
  • ✓Ensured all content sits inside named landmark regions

• Content & Forms

  • ✓Alt text for all product and subcategory images
  • ✓Discernible text and labels for empty/icon-only links
  • ✓Accessible names for search and filter form controls

• Color Contrast

  • ✓Replaced #888888 and #999999 with #767676 (clears 4.5:1 AA)
  • ✓Preserved the brand's clean, light visual style
  • ✓Added underlines to links — not color alone
  • ✓Single stylesheet change cascades across every page

The Results

The numbers tell the story.

Across all three independent tools, the site went from 17 violation types with multiple critical failures to zero critical errors.

• WCAG violation types

  Before

  17

  After Core Fixes

  0 critical remaining

  After Contrast Pass

  0

• Critical failures

  Before

  Multiple (zoom, alt text)

  After Core Fixes

  0

  After Contrast Pass

  0

• Lighthouse accessibility

  Before

  Failing

  After Core Fixes

  83–88

  After Contrast Pass

  91–98 (projected)

• WAVE contrast errors

  Before

  28

  After Core Fixes

  28

  After Contrast Pass

  0 (projected)

• Pages covered

  Before

  0 of ~700

  After Core Fixes

  ~700

  After Contrast Pass

  ~700

Projected figures reflect the validated fix applied site-wide at the template level; full-site re-scan scheduled as part of standard verification.

Business Impact

Beyond a passing score.

• Legal risk reduced

  WCAG AA conformance materially lowers exposure to ADA accessibility lawsuits increasingly targeting e-commerce.

• SEO lift included

  Alt text and clean heading structure help crawlers parse the catalog — the same signals assistive technology relies on.

• Revenue unlocked

  Restoring zoom and contrast directly served older and low-vision professional buyers, removing a locked door to purchase.

• Maintained, not rediscovered

  Six-month review cycles mean new product pages are accessible by default as the catalog grows.