Shopify themes / Horizon
Is the Shopify Horizon theme accessible?
67/100 (D)
Horizon's demo homepage failed 4 rules on 14 elements before any merchant changed anything. A store built on it starts with these and adds whatever its own content and apps bring.
Scanned 2026-10-23: homepage of Shopify's official Horizon demo store (default preset), WCAG 2.1 AA rules, 42 rules passed. Open the full report →
Automated tests find some, not all, accessibility issues. A high score does not mean your site meets ADA, WCAG or EAA requirements. Not legal advice. What a score means
What failed, and whether it carries into your store
Certain ARIA roles must be contained by particular parents (critical, 1 element)
An element claims an ARIA role (such as a tab or menu item) without sitting inside the container that role requires, so assistive tech announces it wrongly or not at all.
On your store: Comes with the theme's markup. You inherit it on any page that uses the same component.
<ul> and <ol> must only directly contain <li>, <script> or <template> elements (serious, 1 element)
A list contains something other than list items, so a screen reader miscounts or misreads it.
On your store: Comes with the theme's markup. You inherit it on any page that uses the same component.
All page content should be contained by landmarks (moderate, 4 elements)
Some content sits outside the page's landmarks (header, main, footer), so screen-reader users who jump between landmarks skip it.
On your store: Often caused by announcement bars and app blocks placed outside the main sections. Apps you add can add more.
Scrollable region must have keyboard access (serious, 8 elements)
A sideways-scrolling strip (a slider or product carousel) cannot be reached or scrolled with the keyboard alone.
On your store: Comes with the section. If your homepage uses the same slider or carousel section, expect the same failure.
Your Horizon store is not the demo
The demo has Shopify's sample photos and alt text. Yours has your product images, the alt text you did or did not type, your colour scheme and the apps you installed, and this scan covers the homepage only. Product, collection and cart pages are where store-only controls live: variant pickers, quantity fields, the cart drawer.
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