Ghost WCAG 2.1 Checker

WCAG 2.1 for Ghost Sites

WCAG 2.1 became a W3C Recommendation in June 2018. It added criteria for mobile, low vision and cognitive accessibility to WCAG 2.0, and it is the standard named in the US Department of Justice rule for state and local government websites, in EN 301 549 V3.2.1 and in most accessibility settlements.

This checker runs the free scan with the WCAG 2.1 AA preset, so the results match the standard your contract, policy or regulator is most likely to name for a Ghost site.

On Ghost sites, WCAG 2.1 issues usually come from themes: fixed-width layouts that do not reflow, light form borders, and hover menus that disappear when the pointer moves. Fix them in the theme or a child theme so every page benefits.

Who Should Run the Ghost WCAG 2.1 Checker

• Ghost site owners whose contracts or policies name WCAG 2.1 AA.
• State and local government bodies, under the ADA Title II rule.
• Businesses responding to an ADA demand letter, which usually cites WCAG 2.1 AA.
• Public sector bodies in the EU, under the Web Accessibility Directive.

WCAG 2.1 Criteria That Often Fail on Ghost

• 1.3.5 Identify Input Purpose

  Form fields that collect personal data, such as name, email and address, need the right autocomplete attribute.

• 1.4.10 Reflow

  Content must reflow at 320 CSS pixels wide, the same as 400% zoom, without scrolling in two directions.

• 1.4.11 Non-text Contrast

  Buttons, form borders, icons and focus indicators need a contrast ratio of at least 3:1.

• 1.4.12 Text Spacing

  Text must stay readable when users increase line, paragraph, letter and word spacing.

• 1.4.13 Content on Hover or Focus

  Tooltips and menus that appear on hover or focus must be dismissible, hoverable and stay visible.

• 4.1.3 Status Messages

  Messages such as “added to cart” or form errors must be announced to screen readers without moving focus.

Where Ghost Sites Usually Fail WCAG 2.1

These problems come up again and again on Ghost sites, and each one fails WCAG 2.1. The Ghost accessibility checker explains how to fix them in Ghost.

• Image and gallery card alt text. Images dropped into posts with no alt text, or with a caption standing in for it, and gallery cards where each image needs its own description.
• Heading structure in long posts. The post title is the page heading, so writers should start at h2. Bold text used as a heading and skipped levels break the outline of long articles.
• Embeds and bookmark cards. Embedded videos, social posts and podcasts load in iframes that need titles, and bookmark cards can produce several links with the same text.
• Membership portal and subscribe forms. The signup and subscribe forms, the portal pop-up and the announcement bar add fields, buttons and overlays that need labels and keyboard handling.
• Theme contrast and navigation. Light gray metadata, pale tag links and dark-mode color swaps often fall below the contrast minimum, and mobile navigation toggles lack a name.

Worried about ADA claims as well? The Ghost ADA compliance checker covers the Ghost risks behind most complaints.

What to Test by Hand on Ghost

Automated testing finds many, but not all, WCAG 2.1 failures. Check these yourself after the scan:

1. Zoom to 400% and check nothing is cut off or needs scrolling in two directions (1.4.10).
2. Apply increased text spacing with a bookmarklet and check text is still readable (1.4.12).
3. Open hover menus and tooltips and check you can dismiss them with Escape (1.4.13).
4. Rescan after each fix. Continuous monitoring rescans up to 500 URLs per domain daily and keeps a dated record in the Compliance Vault.

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Related Guides

• WCAG 2.1 AA CheckerThe WCAG 2.1 standard in full, for any website.
• WCAG 1.1.1 Non-text Content Explained in Plain EnglishWCAG 1.1.1 Non-text Content explained simply: how to write alt text for every kind of image, icon, chart and CAPTCHA, with code examples and a test routine.
• WCAG 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence Explained in Plain EnglishWCAG 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence explained simply: why reading order matters, how CSS and layout tables break it, how to fix it and how to test your pages.
• WCAG 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) Explained in Plain EnglishWCAG 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) explained simply: the 4.5:1 and 3:1 ratios, what counts as large text, the exceptions, fixes and how to test your colors.
• WCAG Success Criteria LibraryLook up any criterion the scan flags, in plain language.

Ghost WCAG 2.1 Checker: Frequently Asked Questions