Platform guide · WordPress & WooCommerce
WordPress accessibility and the BFSG
WordPress core takes accessibility seriously and has coding standards to prove it. Almost no production site is WordPress core: it is core plus a theme, a page builder, and between twenty and sixty plugins, and that is what your visitors get.
- Core is not the problem
- Page builders are
- WooCommerce checkout needs its own pass
What the platform gives you, and what it does not
- You get: a core with accessibility coding standards and block editor output that is largely sound
- You get: a theme ecosystem that includes genuinely well-built accessible themes, if you choose one
- You do not get: any guarantee from a page builder, which generates its own markup and ignores the block editor entirely
- You do not get: plugin quality control — the repository has no accessibility requirement
- You do not get: an accessible WooCommerce checkout by default; it needs testing like any other checkout
Platform guide · WordPress & WooCommerce
What we find on WordPress sites
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Page builder output
Nested divs with click handlers, headings chosen by font size, and accordions with no keyboard support. A builder-heavy site fails the same way on every page.
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Popups and cookie plugins
Newsletter popups and consent banners that trap focus or appear before the skip link — the first thing a keyboard user meets.
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WooCommerce checkout fields
Custom checkout fields added by plugins, with placeholders instead of labels and errors announced to nobody.
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Media library alt text
Empty for years, because nothing ever required it. A single field, thousands of images.
Where to look first
Each links to a plain-language page on that criterion: what it asks for, how it fails in practice, and how far an automated check can get.
A sensible order of work
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Decide about the page builder
If it produces markup you cannot fix, that is an architectural finding, not a bug. Better to know early than to remediate page by page.
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Fix the popup first
It is on every page, it is the first thing focus meets, and it is usually the most serious finding on the site.
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Test the WooCommerce checkout end to end
With the keyboard, with your actual payment gateway plugin, with a real error.
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Work the media library by usage
Not alphabetically. Start with the images that appear on the templates people actually land on.
WordPress questions
Will an accessibility plugin fix this?
Plugins that help you find and fix problems in your own content are useful. Overlay plugins that promise instant compliance are not: they do not change the underlying markup, they are named in a growing number of complaints, and they produce no evidence you could show an authority.
We use a well-known accessible theme. Is that enough?
It is a real head start and it removes a whole category of findings. It does not cover your plugins, your page-builder pages, your content or your checkout — so it changes where the findings are, not whether there are any.
Written to be useful, not to be legal advice. It reflects our reading of the BFSG and EN 301 549 as of 12 October 2026; for a binding assessment of your obligations, ask a lawyer.
Further reading
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Shop systems & CMS
One guide per shop system and CMS: what the platform gives you, what it does not, and where to test first.
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WooCommerce
Block checkout and accessibility-ready themes are a start. Consent banners, swatch plugins, AJAX filters and payment iframes are where WooCommerce shops fail.
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Wix
Wix writes the markup; you choose order, headings, colours, apps and alt text. Freely placed elements and App Market apps are where Wix sites fail.
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Joomla
Cassiopeia was built for accessibility and jooa11y checks articles. Commercial templates, old overrides and extensions with no accessibility information are where Joomla sites fail.
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Jimdo
First check whether the BFSG applies at all. If it does: Jimdo colour sets that fail contrast, three heading sizes used for looks and pasted-in widgets are where Jimdo sites fail.
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Squarespace
Squarespace ships a skip link, focus outlines and labelled checkout fields. Free Fluid Engine layouts, colour choices and pasted-in code are where sites fail.
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IONOS MyWebsite
MyWebsite Now gives you heading levels, alt text and embed title fields – filling them in is your job. Unchecked AI-generated pages, weak palettes and untitled embeds are where sites fail.
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Accessible cookie banners
Semantics, focus, keyboard, equal buttons, settings and the button that reopens it – with code examples and questions for your vendor.
See what this finds on your site
Send a URL. We scan up to 100 pages, send the keyboard agent through the page you name and email you the report — free, once, no strings.