Wp accessibility audit

WordPress Accessibility Audit

Use this when making a WordPress plugin, admin page, frontend feature, or classic theme accessible. The target baseline is WCAG 2.2 Level A and AA, matching WordPress' stated accessibility commitment. AAA is encouraged where practical, but do not claim full AAA unless every relevant AAA criterion has been audited.

This skill is not a legal certification. It is an implementation and review checklist for code.

When to Use This Skill

• The task says accessibility, a11y, WCAG, screen reader, keyboard, akadalymentesites, ARIA, or accessible forms.
• Reviewing admin screens, settings pages, metaboxes, list tables, media frames, custom dialogs, AJAX UI, or frontend shortcode output.
• Adding labels/help text/errors for fields.
• Fixing color contrast, focus visibility, target sizes, font sizing, reduced motion, or hover-only interactions.
• Making live updates announce through wp.a11y.speak().

Baseline Rules

• Content and controls are usable with keyboard only.
• Every interactive element has a correct native role or ARIA role.
• Every form control has an accessible name.
• Focus is visible and not hidden behind sticky headers/toolbars.
• Text and UI contrast meet WCAG AA.
• Text can be zoomed to 200% without loss of content or functionality.
• Motion-heavy UI respects reduced-motion preferences.
• Errors are visible, understandable, and programmatically associated with fields.
• Dynamic updates are announced when they change user-relevant state.
• Automated tests are supplemented by keyboard and screen-reader checks.

ARIA Decision Rule

Prefer native HTML first. ARIA patches semantics; it does not make broken interaction accessible by itself.

Use this order:

1. Correct native element: <button>, <a>, <label>, <input>, <select>, <textarea>, <fieldset>, <legend>, <dialog>, <nav>, <main>.
2. Visible text labels.
3. aria-labelledby when visible text elsewhere labels the control.
4. aria-label only when no visible label is possible, usually icon-only buttons or named landmarks.
5. aria-describedby for help text, constraints, and errors. It is not the field's name.

Do not add ARIA roles that duplicate or contradict native semantics.

Form Fields

Every input/select/textarea needs a real accessible name.

Good visible label:

<label for="myplugin_api_key"><?php esc_html_e( 'API key', 'textdomain' ); ?></label>
<input
	type="text"
	id="myplugin_api_key"
	name="myplugin_options[api_key]"
	value="<?php echo esc_attr( $api_key ); ?>"
	aria-describedby="myplugin_api_key_help"
>
<p id="myplugin_api_key_help" class="description">
	<?php esc_html_e( 'Create this key in your provider dashboard.', 'textdomain' ); ?>
</p>

• Do not use placeholder text as the only label.
• Do not use aria-label when a visible <label> can exist.
• Keep for and id exactly paired.
• Use aria-describedby for help text and constraints.
• For required fields, use native required where validation supports it, plus visible required text where needed.
• For invalid fields, set aria-invalid="true" and connect the error with aria-describedby.
• Radio/checkbox groups need <fieldset> and <legend>.

Error example:

<label for="myplugin_email"><?php esc_html_e( 'Notification email', 'textdomain' ); ?></label>
<input
	type="email"
	id="myplugin_email"
	name="myplugin_email"
	value="<?php echo esc_attr( $email ); ?>"
	aria-describedby="myplugin_email_help myplugin_email_error"
	aria-invalid="true"
>
<p id="myplugin_email_help" class="description"><?php esc_html_e( 'Used for failure alerts.', 'textdomain' ); ?></p>
<p id="myplugin_email_error" class="notice notice-error inline">
	<?php esc_html_e( 'Enter a valid email address.', 'textdomain' ); ?>
</p>

Buttons, Links, Icons

• Use <button type="button"> for actions that change UI state.
• Use <a href="..."> for navigation.
• Never use <a href="#"> or clickable <div> for buttons.
• Icon-only buttons need visible text, .screen-reader-text, or aria-label.
• Decorative icons inside named controls should use aria-hidden="true" and not receive focus.
• Repeated links like "Read more" need extra context through visible text or .screen-reader-text.

Icon button:

<button type="button" class="button myplugin-refresh">
	<span class="dashicons dashicons-update" aria-hidden="true"></span>
	<span class="screen-reader-text"><?php esc_html_e( 'Refresh import status', 'textdomain' ); ?></span>
</button>

Keyboard and Focus

• Tab reaches every interactive element in a logical order.

• Shift+Tab works backward.

• Enter activates links and submit buttons.

• Space activates buttons, checkboxes, and toggles.

• Escape closes modals, popovers, and autocomplete popups.

• Arrow-key behavior is implemented for custom menu/listbox/tab/slider patterns only when the ARIA APG pattern requires it.

• Do not use positive tabindex.

• Use tabindex="-1" only for programmatic focus targets such as error summaries or modal containers.

• Never remove outlines without a visible replacement.

• After AJAX save/delete/filter operations, keep focus stable or move it deliberately to the next useful place.

• Do not trap focus except in true modal dialogs.

• When closing a modal, return focus to the control that opened it.

Focus CSS:

.myplugin-ui :focus-visible {
	outline: 2px solid #1d2327;
	outline-offset: 2px;
}

@media (forced-colors: active) {
	.myplugin-ui :focus-visible {
		outline: 2px solid CanvasText;
	}
}

Dynamic Updates and Notices

For admin JavaScript that updates state without a full page load, enqueue wp-a11y and announce meaningful changes.

wp_enqueue_script(
	'myplugin-admin',
	plugins_url( 'assets/admin.js', __FILE__ ),
	array( 'wp-a11y', 'wp-i18n' ),
	'1.0.0',
	true
);

const { __ } = wp.i18n;

wp.a11y.speak( __( 'Settings saved.', 'textdomain' ) );

• Announce results, not implementation details.
• Use polite announcements for normal updates and assertive only for urgent errors.
• Visible notices still matter; screen-reader announcements do not replace visible feedback.
• Error summaries should be focusable with tabindex="-1" and focused after failed validation.

Color, Text, and Layout

• Normal text contrast: at least 4.5:1.

• Large text contrast: at least 3:1.

• UI components and graphical state indicators: at least 3:1.

• Do not use color as the only way to show errors, selected state, required fields, or links in prose.

• Use relative units for text: rem, em, %.

• As design guidance, start body text at 1rem, avoid UI text below 14px, and prefer 16px for content/form-heavy screens. WCAG does not define a universal minimum font-size pass/fail threshold.

• Use line-height around 1.4 to 1.6 for readable body text.

• Avoid fixed-height containers for text that can wrap or zoom.

• Test text zoom at 200%, and test reflow at 400% zoom / a 320 CSS-pixel-wide viewport without two-dimensional scrolling except for allowed content such as data tables.

• Test WCAG text-spacing overrides: line height 1.5, paragraph spacing 2em, letter spacing 0.12em, and word spacing 0.16em; content and controls must remain available.

Reduced motion:

@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
	.myplugin-nonessential-animation {
		scroll-behavior: auto !important;
		animation: none !important;
		transition: none !important;
	}
}

Scope reduced-motion changes to nonessential effects. Do not globally shorten animations when application logic waits for animationend/transitionend; provide a no-motion code path and test that completion still occurs.

• WCAG 2.2 AA target size is 24 by 24 CSS pixels, with defined exceptions for sufficient spacing, inline text, equivalent larger controls, user-agent controls, and essential presentation. Audit the exception before reporting every smaller compact control as a failure.
• Prefer 44 by 44 CSS pixels for touch-heavy frontend UI.
• If the visual icon is smaller, increase clickable padding.

Landmarks, Headings, and Tables

• Use one meaningful h1 for the screen/admin page title.
• Keep headings in logical order; do not choose heading levels by visual size.
• Admin pages should use the normal .wrap > h1 pattern.
• Use landmarks for major areas: main, nav, aside, header, footer.
• Multiple nav landmarks need names with aria-label or aria-labelledby.
• Data tables need header cells with scope="col" or scope="row".
• Do not use tables for layout.

Media and Images

• Informative images need meaningful alt text.
• Decorative images use empty alt="".
• Do not repeat adjacent text in alt text.
• SVG icons that are decorative use aria-hidden="true" focusable="false".
• Audio/video must not autoplay with sound.
• Captions/transcripts are required when media conveys information.

Custom Components

Before building a custom widget, check whether native HTML or a WordPress component already solves it.

• Use the WAI-ARIA APG pattern for the component type.

• Implement the documented keyboard interaction.

• Manage focus deliberately.

• Keep ARIA state synchronized: aria-expanded, aria-selected, aria-checked, aria-disabled, aria-controls.

• Test with keyboard and at least one screen reader.

• Modal dialogs.

• Autocomplete/listbox.

• Tabs.

• Accordions/disclosures.

• Drag-and-drop UIs.

• Toasts/live updates.

• Date pickers.

Audit Workflow

1. Identify every interactive element.
2. Verify accessible name, role, value, and state.
3. Tab through the whole UI without a mouse.
4. Trigger validation errors and verify visible/focus/ARIA behavior.
5. Test 200% text zoom, 400%/320-CSS-pixel reflow, and text-spacing overrides.
6. Check contrast for text, focus, borders, icons, and error states.
7. Disable animations through reduced-motion preference.
8. Run an automated checker, then manually verify anything it cannot know.
9. Record issues with severity and WCAG/WordPress rationale.

Severity Guide

• Critical: keyboard trap, unreachable primary action, missing accessible names on required controls, modal focus broken, security/checkout/account flow unusable.
• High: invalid fields not announced, focus invisible, insufficient contrast on important text/actions, destructive action ambiguity, dynamic state not announced.
• Medium: poor heading order, missing landmark names, weak help text association, target size below 24px without a WCAG exception, or nonessential motion not reduced.
• Low: redundant labels, minor screen-reader verbosity, cosmetic focus inconsistency that remains usable.

Common Mistakes

• Common failures: replacing visible labels with aria-label, using aria-describedby as the name, hiding labels with display:none, removing outlines, positive tabindex, click handlers on non-interactive elements, color-only state, silent AJAX completion, and trusting an automated scan as proof of accessibility.

Cross-References

• Pair with wp-admin-settings-api, wp-admin-list-table, or wp-admin-media-frame for those specific admin components.
• Use classic-theme-accessibility-semantics for classic theme document structure and landmarks.

References

• Official documentation: https://developer.wordpress.org/coding-standards/wordpress-coding-standards/accessibility/
• Official documentation: https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/
• Official documentation: https://www.w3.org/WAI/ARIA/apg/
• Official documentation: https://www.w3.org/WAI/ARIA/apg/practices/names-and-descriptions/
• Official documentation: https://www.section508.gov/develop/guide-accessible-web-design-development/
• Verified source paths:
  • wp-admin/css/common.css
  • wp-includes/js/dist/a11y.js
  • wp-includes/script-loader.php
  • wp-includes/comment-template.php
  • wp-includes/media-template.php
  • wp-includes/class-wp-customize-control.php
  • wp-admin/js/common.js