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Make WordPress navigation keyboard-operable with visible focus, give every form field a real label, and write image alternatives that communicate each image’s purpose. Then test the finished pages: a theme label or WordPress update is not proof that a particular site is accessible.
What accessibility standard should a WordPress site aim for?
WordPress says code integrated into its ecosystem—including WordPress core, WordPress.org websites, and official plugins—is expected to conform to WCAG 2.2 Level AA. The WordPress Developer Resources accessibility coding standards describe that expectation for integrated code; it does not mean every WordPress website automatically conforms.
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The W3C’s WCAG 2.2 Recommendation is the normative reference. WordPress’s accessibility guidance is useful practical support, but it does not replace the standard. Relevant topics include keyboard access and avoiding keyboard traps, focus order and visibility, link purpose, labels, input assistance, and identifying errors.
Recent WordPress work can improve the tools without resolving issues in a site’s content, theme configuration, plugins, or custom code. WordPress 7.1’s release report, published August 13, 2026, lists 44 accessibility enhancements and bug fixes in Core and 43 in the Editor. Those are counts of release work, not measurements of website conformance. The September 30, 2026 documentation update describes continuing work on accessibility guidance.
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How do I make a WordPress menu accessible?
Use links for navigation and buttons for actions such as opening or closing a menu. Every interactive control should be reachable and operable by keyboard, have visible focus, and expose an understandable accessible name, role, and state. For custom controls, communicate states such as expanded or collapsed programmatically. Prefer visible text as the name; if using ARIA, do not make the accessible name conflict with the wording people see. Native semantic controls are generally preferable to recreating them with ARIA.
Check the menu with a keyboard
- Open a page and start at the top. Press Tab to move forward through interactive items and Shift+Tab to move backward.
- Check that focus is visible and moves in a sensible reading order, including through the site’s navigation.
- Use links and buttons as expected with the keyboard. Open each dropdown and check that its items can be reached and operated.
- Continue through the page and confirm that focus is not unexpectedly trapped. If you use a screen reader, check that controls’ names and expanded or selected states are announced clearly.
Test the rendered site, not just the menu editor or theme preview. The WordPress navigation accessibility guidance includes navigation menus among the controls to check.
How do I make WordPress forms accessible?
Give every input a real, programmatically associated label. A placeholder is a short hint, not a label: it can disappear as someone types and does not replace a persistent field name. WordPress guidance recommends placing labels above text inputs, textareas, and selects. Keep label text plain; do not put interactive elements inside it.
Make the form understandable before submission
- Ask only for information needed to process the request.
- Mark required fields clearly and consistently. Explain formats and constraints before a person submits, and accept familiar input patterns.
- Use hints for extra instructions, not as substitutes for labels.
Make errors and success clear
- Do not rely on color alone to indicate an error. Put a text explanation near the affected field.
- For a form with multiple errors, provide a summary as well as field-level messages.
- Give specific corrective instructions, such as the required date format, rather than a vague message.
- Avoid reporting an incomplete value as an error while someone is still entering it.
- After a successful submission, show a clear confirmation and next step.
These practices follow the WordPress guidance for accessible forms. They are worth checking on the live form, since plugins and custom styling can affect the labels, messages, and behavior visitors encounter.
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Enter alternative text in the image’s Media Library attachment details or edit it for an individual Image block. Review it where the image actually appears: one file can serve different purposes in different locations. WordPress 7.1 added a decorative-image setting for images that add no information; when appropriate, it prevents a screen reader from announcing the image.
Choose text based on the image’s purpose
- For an informative image, briefly convey the information that matters to the page. Do not try to inventory every visible detail.
- For a decorative image that adds no information, use the decorative option when available rather than adding redundant text.
- For a complex infographic, use short identifying alt text and provide the graphic’s information elsewhere in accessible text.
- For an image that is a link, write alt text that communicates the destination or action. The alternative text acts as the link text, so a visual description alone may not explain what the link does.
Do not begin alt text with “image of”; assistive technology already conveys that the content is an image. See WordPress image accessibility guidance and its guidance on linked images.
How can I check the finished site?
Review representative pages in a browser: a page with the main navigation and dropdowns, each distinct form, and pages with informative, decorative, complex, or linked images. A keyboard pass can catch unreachable controls, missing focus visibility, and illogical order; a screen reader check helps confirm names and states. Automated tools can support a review, but the cited guidance does not establish that an automated scan alone proves conformance.
Theme selection is not a substitute for this testing. The updated WordPress accessibility-ready theme requirements took effect May 6, 2026. WordPress’s announcement about the updated requirements explains that themes wrap content while WCAG measures content; a theme review label therefore does not guarantee the accessibility of a site’s content or configuration.
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