Platform

Shopify

Shopify provides a solid foundation, but a store remains an assembly: theme, apps, content. That assembly is what the law looks at, and that is what needs measuring.

Themes published on the official theme store must meet accessibility requirements to be accepted, and the Shopify-hosted checkout is maintained by the platform itself. Those are two real assets. The risk therefore moves to what gets added: third-party apps, theme customisations and content.

What Shopify handles rather well

• Recent themes from the official store: structure, keyboard navigation and default theme contrast are checked at publication.
• The hosted checkout: shared and maintained by the platform, it evolves without any work on your side.
• An alt text field exists for every product image in the admin: the mechanism is there, it remains to be filled in.

Where the risk settles

• Apps: popups, reviews, upsells inject their own interface, rarely checked with a keyboard or a screen reader.
• Liquid theme customisations: every added or modified section leaves the perimeter checked at theme publication.
• Content: missing text alternatives and promotional banner contrast remain the most ordinary defects, whatever the platform.

What our analyses show

Across all the online stores analysed in our three scan series of 2026 (distinct panels, same measurement rules), 14 ran on Shopify: 12 of them showed at least one critical or serious non-conformity on their homepage. A sound foundation does not immunise the finished store: the assembly decides.