The problem
64% of product pages tested had at least one critical accessibility issue.
This year, 39,976 Shopify and 19,424 WooCommerce product pages from stores ranked among the world’s top one million websites were scanned. On 37,874 of them, at least one issue in the highest potential-impact category was discovered.
On a product page, that could mean a customer cannot read important information, use a form or select a buying option.
Critical findings are only part of the picture though. 96% of product pages failed at least one automated accessibility check.
These are not just technical faults. They can stop customers using a product page. In the UK alone, an estimated £17 billion in online spending does not happen each year because people find websites difficult or impossible to use. A customer may use a screen reader, enlarge the page or navigate with a keyboard. And when your product page breaks, they generally don't complain or email you. They just leave and buy from somewhere they can actually use (your accessible competitor, perhaps?).
Understanding the headline
What a critical finding can mean for your customers
Critical is the highest potential-impact rating.
For your customer, a critical finding could make important product information, a form field or option impossible to use. The report identifies the barriers with the highest potential impact and shows how common they are across product pages.
64% of the product pages tested contained at least one critical finding.
Shopify Opens in a new window and WooCommerce Opens in a new window have both invested significantly in accessibility, particularly in checkout and the parts of the buying journey they directly control.
However, your product page is built from platform code, a theme, apps and plugins, agency or developer work and the store's own content.
Any of those layers can introduce a barrier.
That's why accessibility needs an owner inside the business. Someone needs to find where a problem sits, assign it to the right team or supplier and make sure it gets fixed.
21 The average number of accessibility issues on a product page.
By popularity
More traffic did not mean better accessibility
Product pages from the most popular stores were (marginally) worse-performing.
- 500,000–1 million
- 63% of product pages had a critical accessibility failure.
- 100,000–500,000
- 65% of product pages had a critical accessibility failure.
- Top 100,000
- 69% of product pages had a critical accessibility failure.
Among stores ranked between 500,000 and one million, 63% of product pages had a critical accessibility failure. Among stores in the top 100,000, that rose to 69%.
A high-traffic store puts every unresolved accessibility barrier in front of a larger audience. Accessibility needs the same ongoing attention as conversion, performance and security.
The next question is what those failures actually are.
What fails most
The accessibility problems found most often
Poor colour contrast was the standout problem. It appeared on 80% of the product pages tested.
The table below shows the six accessibility issues that appeared most often. Each percentage is the share of product pages where that problem appeared at least once. The full data view also shows you the exact counts, standards and impact ratings.
| What the problem is | Why it's a problem | Share of pages |
|---|---|---|
| Text does not stand out enough from its background | It can be difficult to read, particularly for people with low vision. | 80% |
| Links do not have a useful name | A screen reader may announce a link without explaining what it does or where it goes. | 53% |
| Heading levels are out of order | The page structure is harder to follow when someone navigates by headings. | 49% |
| Tap targets are too small or too close together | Buttons and links are harder to select accurately on a touchscreen. | 32% |
| A button, link or field has a different name for assistive technology | People using voice commands may say the words they can see and still be unable to activate it. | 28% |
| Images are missing alternative text | A screen reader cannot communicate the image’s content or purpose. | 27% |
Full data
Rule-level results
Across the product pages tested, 52 axe-core rules identified at least one failure. The table below shows the 14 that appeared most often. “Pages” counts each affected product page once for each rule. “Instances” counts every affected element, so one page can contribute several instances. “Average per affected page” shows how many instances appeared on each affected page, on average. WCAG rows are linked to a WCAG success criterion; Best practice rows are additional axe-core checks.
| Rule ID | What it checks | Product pages | Share | Standard | Impact | Instances | Average per affected page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| color-contrast | Text is too faint to read against its background | 47,479 | 79.9% | 1.4.3 | Serious | 584,730 | 12.3 |
| link-name | A link has no text a screen reader can announce | 31,636 | 53.3% | 4.1.2 | Serious | 161,076 | 5.1 |
| heading-order | Headings skip a level, so the outline is wrong | 28,948 | 48.7% | Best practice | Moderate | 38,985 | 1.3 |
| target-size | A tap target is smaller than a fingertip | 18,790 | 31.6% | 2.5.8 | Serious | 112,202 | 6.0 |
| label-content-name-mismatch | A visible label does not match its accessible name | 16,598 | 27.9% | Best practice | Serious | 45,565 | 2.7 |
| image-alt | An image carries no alternative text | 16,107 | 27.1% | 1.1.1 | Critical | 77,483 | 4.8 |
| button-name | A button has no name, so it cannot be announced | 12,232 | 20.6% | 4.1.2 | Critical | 40,632 | 3.3 |
| meta-viewport | Pinch-zoom is switched off | 12,184 | 20.5% | 1.4.4 | Critical | 12,933 | 1.1 |
| label | A form field has no label | 8,060 | 13.6% | 4.1.2 | Critical | 16,079 | 2.0 |
| landmark-one-main | The page has no main landmark | 5,293 | 8.9% | Best practice | Moderate | 5,293 | 1.0 |
| list | A list contains something that is not a list item | 4,923 | 8.3% | 1.3.1 | Serious | 7,985 | 1.6 |
| aria-allowed-attr | An ARIA attribute is not allowed on that element | 4,680 | 7.9% | 4.1.2 | Critical | 18,979 | 4.1 |
| link-in-text-block | A link relies on colour alone to stand out from surrounding text | 4,037 | 6.8% | 1.4.1 | Serious | 7,077 | 1.8 |
These are the building blocks of a product page. So what happens when a store installs an accessibility overlay?
What to do next
Start with these six checks on your own product pages
These are the six accessibility issues found most often, so we have turned them into practical changes for your product page.
They are ordered by how often each problem appeared, not by how difficult it may be to fix.
-
Make text easier to read
Increase the contrast between text and its background.
Learn how to improve text contrast
- Pages affected
- 47,479
- Audit rule
- color-contrast
- Impact
- Serious
- Standard
- 1.4.3
-
Give every link a useful name
Use link text that explains where the link goes or what it does.
Learn how to give links useful names
- Pages affected
- 31,636
- Audit rule
- link-name
- Impact
- Serious
- Standard
- 4.1.2
-
Keep headings in a logical order
Build a clear page structure without skipping heading levels.
Learn how to structure headings
- Pages affected
- 28,948
- Audit rule
- heading-order
- Impact
- Moderate
- Standard
- Best practice
-
Make tap targets easier to select
Give buttons and links enough space to be selected accurately on a touchscreen.
Learn how to improve tap targets
- Pages affected
- 18,790
- Audit rule
- target-size
- Impact
- Serious
- Standard
- 2.5.8
-
Use the same name on screen and behind the scenes
Use the same wording visually and in the name exposed to assistive technology.
Learn how to align visible and accessible labels
- Pages affected
- 16,598
- Audit rule
- label-content-name-mismatch
- Impact
- Serious
- Standard
- Best practice
-
Add useful alternative text to images
Describe an image’s relevant content or purpose when it cannot be seen.
Learn how to add useful image descriptions
- Pages affected
- 16,107
- Audit rule
- image-alt
- Impact
- Critical
- Standard
- 1.1.1
Common problems are a useful starting point. Testing your own product page shows where to begin.
Bonus: AI and shopping
The same page structure that helps your customers shop also helps search engines and machines understand your products too.
Clear headings, useful image descriptions Opens in a new window and properly built, labelled form fields help your customers find product information, navigate by keyboard or shop with a screen reader. Those same elements also tell search crawlers and AI assistants what the product is, which options are available and what each button, link and field does.
Shoppers can use AI assistants to compare products before they visit a store, and increasingly AI providers are starting to allow purchases directly through their platforms. Clear descriptions, current prices and stock information give those services less to guess at.
Read more about accessibility and AI shopping
The study measured product-page accessibility. The search and AI context is supported by the linked Google guidance.
Check your store
Where your own product page sits
Scan your highest-performing product page now. The private results will show where its score sits against the Shopify and WooCommerce product-page dataset, what was found, and which findings deserve attention first.
Get your private product page benchmark
What arrives in your inbox
- Your position. A same-platform comparison, not another score on its own.
- Your priorities. Up to three findings to address first, explained in plain English.
- Your handover. The complete technical result, ready to send to the person making the changes.
Only your own result is returned. No named-store rankings or comparisons are published. After changes have been made, the same page can be checked again.
Method
How the research was carried out
The research covers 59,400 product pages, all tested using one consistent process.
One product page was selected per Shopify or WooCommerce store in HTTP Archive's global top-million website dataset. Every page included in the report received the same mobile Lighthouse accessibility audit through Google PageSpeed Insights.
The full methodology explains how stores and product pages were selected, checked and counted.
About
Who built this report
I’m Dave. I’m a Web Accessibility Specialist Opens in a new window , and I built this report to show store owners which accessibility problems appear most often on product pages.
The numbers are important, but accessibility is always about people and context. This report turns a large dataset into a useful place to start.
This is the first edition. The report will return each year to show what is getting better and what still needs attention.