Accessibility on WordPress
WordPress core ships reasonably accessible default markup, but almost no WordPress site runs on core alone. Page builders, form plugins, galleries and cookie banners each add their own HTML, and any one of them can break accessibility that the theme got right.
That is why two WordPress sites built on the same theme can have very different results: the gap is almost always in the plugins and builder blocks layered on top, not the underlying platform.
Common Accessibility Issues on WordPress Sites
Page builder markup
Elementor, Divi and WPBakery generate deeply nested, non-semantic divs and often style text to look like a heading without using a real heading tag, so screen readers cannot find the page structure.
Contact form errors
Contact Form 7 and similar plugins frequently ship with missing field labels or error messages that are not announced to screen readers when a submission fails.
WooCommerce galleries and carts
Product image galleries and cart interactions commonly trap keyboard focus, blocking anyone who cannot use a mouse from completing a purchase.
Cookie banners
Consent banners are a common source of keyboard traps, especially when they load after the page and grab focus without a way to close them by keyboard.
Decorative icons and sliders
Icon fonts and image sliders frequently expose decorative graphics to screen readers as unlabeled content, and carousels often ignore focus and pause controls.
How AccessBell Scans Your WordPress Site
- Enter any public page. Paste the address of a page on your WordPress site into the scanner above. There is nothing to install: no plugin, no code snippet and no login.
- We load it in a real browser. AccessBell opens the page in headless Chrome and runs its scripts, so it tests what your visitors actually see, including content added by your theme, apps or plugins.
- We run the WCAG rules. The open-source axe-core engine checks the page against the standard you choose, and every result is mapped to the WCAG success criteria it affects.
- You see what is wrong in seconds. The free scan lists every issue it finds, ranked by severity, with the WCAG criteria each one fails. Start a free trial to get the failing code and the fix for each one. Our methodology explains exactly what runs and what still needs a person.
What You Get From the Free Scan and the Free Trial
Free, with no account
- 63 automated rules for WCAG 2.2 Level AA, or presets for WCAG 2.1 AA, the ADA, Section 508 and EN 301 549
- Every issue found on the page, ranked by severity from critical to minor
- The WCAG success criteria each issue fails, which you can look up in our WCAG library
With a 3-day free trial
- The failing HTML, so you can find the element in your WordPress editor or code
- How to fix each issue, with a corrected example
- Every page scanned, up to 500 per domain, with daily monitoring and an email when something breaks
- A list of checks that need a person to review, so nothing is missed
- A dated record of your scans and fixes
How to Fix What the Scan Finds
- An accessibility-enhancer plugin (one that changes the markup your site outputs, not an overlay widget) can fix some site-wide issues quickly, but it will not fix custom page-builder sections or a specific plugin’s broken markup.
- Scan after every theme update, plugin update and page-builder change; a passing scan today does not mean a plugin update next month will not reintroduce an issue.
- Run a free scan above on your homepage and a few key pages, fix issues starting with critical and serious, then rescan to confirm.
- For ongoing protection, AccessBell Pro monitors up to 500 URLs per domain every day and alerts you when a theme, app or plugin update introduces a new issue.
Related Guides
WordPress Accessibility — Frequently Asked Questions
Is WordPress itself accessible?
WordPress core and the default block themes are built with reasonable accessibility in mind. Most real-world issues come from page builders, plugins and custom theme code added on top, not WordPress itself.
Will an accessibility plugin make my WordPress site compliant?
An overlay-style widget will not; it runs in the browser and does not change your site’s code. A plugin that actually modifies your markup can help with some site-wide issues, but page-builder sections and custom plugin output still need to be fixed directly.
Does AccessBell work with WordPress?
Yes. AccessBell scans the live, rendered page in a real Chrome browser, the same page your visitors see, regardless of which theme, builder or plugins generated it.
Sources
This page explains general accessibility patterns for WordPress sites and is not legal advice. AccessBell is not affiliated with WordPress. WordPress and its logo are trademarks of their owners and are used only to identify the platform. See our disclaimer.
