Shopify has launched some new accessibility requirements for its theme store.
In a new blog post from accessibility specialist Scott Vinkle at Shopify, He detailed how users can meet the company’s new accessibility requirements which follow after the launch of its Online Store 2.0, a digital marketplace selling themes and apps for Shopify merchant stores. The requirements apply for all new theme submissions with Shopify noting, “We want to share clear, concise expectations for our theme partners to follow when designing new themes, so you build with inclusive best practices in mind from the beginning”
The post highlights that “accessibility should be baked into every aspect of your theme build” and encourages all pages of a theme to be tested. These tests range from ensuring defaults of a theme are available, running a Lighthouse test for objective issues, and Shopify will run subjective tests on any submitted themes, with those tests detailed in the post.
Throughout the post, various requirements are shown with advice on how the developer can test them. Alt text is mentioned to describe products, themes must be built with valid HTML, elements that can be focused must feature a visible focus state, and there’s even touch target size that is highlighted for navigating themes on touchscreen devices.
There’s more documentation available for the Shopify accessibility requirements on the developer site as well as some best practices for developers to follow. The end of the post reads, “Meeting these requirements won’t just let you publish your theme in the Shopify Theme Store—you’ll also set your merchants and their shoppers up for success.”
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