Accessibility is three things at once: a legal requirement (UK Equality Act, EU Accessibility Act from June 2025), a commercial opportunity (disabled customers represent real spending power), and a quality signal - accessible stores are usually better stores for everyone. Magento’s default themes land mid-pack on WCAG: usable, but with known gaps. Here is where storefronts fail and how to fix them.
The WCAG Baseline
WCAG 2.2 AA is the standard to target - the legal references in UK/EU point at it. For a storefront, the high-impact criteria concentrate in a few areas:
Perceivable: alt text on images (product images included), colour contrast ratios (4.5:1 for text), no information carried by colour alone (swatch selection state is the classic failure)
Operable: full keyboard operation - navigation, mini-cart, layered navigation, checkout - with visible focus states; no keyboard traps in modals and drawers
Understandable: form labels programmatically associated with inputs, error messages that say what is wrong and where, consistent navigation
Robust: valid HTML semantics that assistive technology can parse - headings in order, landmarks, ARIA only where native semantics fall short
Where Magento Themes Typically Fail
Audits of Luma-based and many custom themes find the same set:
- Focus states removed by CSS reset (
outline: nonewithout a replacement) - keyboard users become blind to their own position - Mini-cart and mega-menu keyboard/screen-reader gaps - hover-driven menus that keyboards cannot open
- Swatches as colour-only: selected state shown visually, never announced
- Contrast failures on sale badges, placeholder text and secondary buttons
- Form errors rendered near the field visually but not associated programmatically
Hyva themes start from a stronger base but still need audit - accessibility is per-theme work, not a platform purchase.
The Audit Approach
Combine tooling with human testing:
- Automated scan (axe, WAVE) across page types - catches the mechanical third
- Keyboard walkthrough: unplug the mouse and complete a purchase - this single test finds the majority of real blockers
- Screen reader pass (NVDA or VoiceOver) on home, category, product, cart, checkout
- Zoom to 200 percent and reflow at mobile widths
The Business Case, Briefly
Beyond compliance: accessible checkouts convert better for everyone, keyboard-operable menus help power users, and contrast fixes help every customer on a phone in sunlight. The fixes are frontend work, mostly small, compounding into a store more people can buy from.
Accessibility is not a feature to add but a quality bar to hold. Audit against WCAG 2.2 AA, fix the keyboard path to purchase first, and retest on every theme change - your customers and your legal counsel will both be glad you did.