A Shopify WCAG audit tests a defined set of your store’s pages against WCAG 2.1 AA using two complementary methods — automated tooling for what machines can detect, and manual checks for what they cannot — and it ends with a written record marking every success criterion as pass, fail or not tested.
Both halves are required. Automated tools are fast and consistently wrong about completeness: they cover a fraction of the success criteria, so an audit that only runs a scanner produces a number, not a picture. The sequence below is the one that holds up.
Step 1: scope the pages before you scan
An audit of “the store” is unbounded and therefore never finished. Pick a page set that covers every state a shopper passes through, then scan that set: home page, cart, search results, your top collections and top products, the contact page, and one policy page.
That set is not arbitrary — it is where accessibility usually breaks on Shopify themes: template differences between collection and product, the cart drawer, search with no results, and forms. Reuse the same set every time so results are comparable across scans rather than a fresh guess each month.
Step 2: run the automated half
Automated scanners (axe-core in a headless browser is the common engine) read the rendered DOM and flag machine-detectable failures: missing alternative text, form inputs without accessible names, insufficient colour contrast, missing page language, duplicate ids, empty links and buttons.
| Automated checks catch | Automated checks cannot catch |
|---|---|
| Missing or empty alt attributes | Alt text that describes the wrong thing |
| Inputs without a label or accessible name | Labels that confuse once the form errors |
| Contrast ratios below the AA threshold | Meaning carried by colour alone |
| Missing document language, duplicate ids | Whether focus order makes sense to a human |
| Link or button with no accessible name | Whether the checkout is completable by keyboard |
Two disciplines keep the output honest. Group findings by rule and by page so one systemic theme bug does not read as fifty separate problems. And treat “not tested” as its own category — a criterion the tool cannot evaluate is not a pass.
Step 3: do the manual half
Manual testing is where an audit earns its name. Work through it in this order:
- Keyboard only. Unplug the mouse. Reach every control, activate cart, search and checkout, and confirm a visible focus indicator at every step.
- Focus order and focus trap. Tab order should follow the visual layout; modals and drawers must not strand focus behind them.
- Zoom and reflow. Grow the browser text; content must reflow without horizontal scrolling and without losing the buy button.
- Screen reader pass. One page type at a time, confirm headings are announced as headings, images read meaningfully, and live regions (search, cart updates) actually announce.
- Forms under error. Submit the checkout or contact form empty; error messages must be text, associated with their field, and announced.
- Media. Captions on video, no autoplay beyond a few seconds with audio, transcript where the content requires it.
What an audit cannot tell you
An audit reports what a given tool and tester found on a given date. It is not a certificate of conformity, not legal advice, and not a guarantee that any authority will agree your store conforms. It is evidence of what was tested — which is exactly why the record has to be dated and specific.
Step 4: turn findings into a dated record
Findings without a record evaporate after the fix meeting. The durable artifact lists every WCAG 2.1 AA criterion as pass, fail or not tested, plus the tool and version used, the findings count, and what remained manual. That document is what you hand to a lawyer or an auditor later — not a screenshot of a green score.
Capyo: Accessibility WCAG EAA automates the first two steps of this workflow: it scans your page set with axe-core, lists each finding with its rule id, impact, WCAG criterion, selector and an HTML snippet, and generates that dated Prüfbericht on paid plans. For a quick read on one page before you commit to a full audit, the free WCAG Check Shop tool runs against your homepage and shows its findings in seconds.
How long does a Shopify WCAG audit take?
A focused audit of a page set — home, cart, search, top collections and products, contact, one policy page — is a few days of work, most of it in the manual half. Automated scanning takes minutes; interpreting findings and testing keyboard and screen-reader behavior takes the time.
Is an automated scan enough for a WCAG audit?
No. Automated engines cover only a fraction of WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria, so a scan-only audit silently marks the rest as unchecked. Keyboard testing, focus order, zoom and reflow, form error handling and a screen-reader pass must be done by a person.
Does passing a WCAG audit mean my store is legally compliant?
No, and no audit should claim that. An audit is dated evidence of what was tested and what failed. Whether that meets your obligations is a legal question for your lawyer, not an output of a testing tool.
Which pages should a Shopify store audit first?
The purchase flow: home page, a collection page, a product page, cart, search, checkout-adjacent pages, contact and a policy page. If a shopper passes through it, it is in scope — that flow is what accessibility rules for online shops are aimed at.
What should an audit report contain?
Every WCAG 2.1 AA criterion marked pass, fail or not tested; each finding with its rule id, impact, criterion, selector and snippet; the tool and its version; the fixes that were applied; and the issues that remain manual. Anything less cannot be reviewed later.
Free tool
WCAG Check Shop
Free check: see which WCAG 2.1 AA findings your homepage has in seconds.
Open the free toolCapyo is an independent app, not affiliated with or sponsored by Shopify. "Shopify" is a trademark of Shopify Inc. The app reports axe-core findings against WCAG 2.1 AA / EN 301 549 and generates document templates; it is not legal advice and it does not promise any legal outcome. The accessibility statement the app generates is a template to be reviewed by a lawyer, and the shop operator is responsible for its content and accuracy.