Name, Role, Value
Every UI component must expose a name, role, and (where relevant) value to assistive technology — typically through native HTML or ARIA attributes.
What it requires
A button needs a programmatic name ("Add to cart"), a programmatic role (`button`), and — if it is stateful — a value or state (`aria-pressed="true"`, `aria-expanded="false"`). Native HTML elements provide all three for free; custom widgets must explicitly declare them through ARIA.
Common failures: icon-only buttons with no aria-label, custom dropdowns with no role="combobox" or aria-expanded, tab panels with no role="tab" / role="tabpanel" connection.
Common Shopify failure
Theme cart-icon button at the top right is `<a href="/cart"><svg>...</svg></a>` with no accessible name. Screen readers announce "link" with no description.
How to fix it
Add `aria-label="Open cart"` to the link and `aria-hidden="true"` to the inner SVG. For icon-only buttons that toggle state (filter open/closed), add `aria-expanded` that updates with the state.
Merchant QA checklist
- Scan the storefront page where this pattern appears: product pages, collection pages, cart drawer, customer-account pages, and any landing page built with theme sections.
- Confirm the issue is fixed in the rendered browser output, not only in the Liquid file. Shopify section settings, app blocks, and third-party scripts can reintroduce the same 4.1.2 failure after a theme edit.
- Re-test the affected component with keyboard navigation and a screen-reader accessibility tree before publishing the theme, especially when the fix changes markup or ARIA attributes.
How AccessComply handles it
AccessComply treats WCAG 4.1.2 as a rendered-storefront issue first. The scanner checks the live DOM and computed styles, maps the finding back to the Shopify theme file that produced it, then classifies the fix as a safe automatic fix. When automation is safe, the app writes the smallest theme-code change needed and keeps the original theme backup available. When merchant judgment is required, the issue is surfaced for manual review instead of pretending the page is fixed.
Primary source: W3C — WCAG 2.0 Understanding 4.1.2