Liquid Theme A11y Agent Skill

Implement WCAG 2.2 accessibility patterns in Shopify Liquid themes. Covers e-commerce-specific components including product cards, carousels, cart drawers, price display, forms, filters, and modals. Use when building accessible theme components, fixing accessibility issues, or reviewing ARIA patterns in .liquid files.

6k tokens

context cost

the whole folder, loaded on every use

files

instructions only

copies elsewhere

how many repositories repackaged it

stars on the repo

on the repository, not the skill itself

Install

one command, takes just this skill from the repository

npx skills add https://github.com/Shopify/liquid-skills --skill liquid-theme-a11y

What comes with it

10 834 bytes besides the instruction

references/component-patterns.md

references/focus-and-keyboard.md

The instruction itself

29 sections, as written by the author

Accessibility for Shopify Liquid Themes

Core Principle

Every interactive component must work with keyboard only, screen readers, and reduced-motion preferences. Start with semantic HTML — add ARIA only when native semantics are insufficient.

Decision Table: Which Pattern?

|-----------|-------------|-------------|-----------|

Page Structure

Landmarks

<body>
  <a href="#main-content" class="skip-link">{{ 'accessibility.skip_to_content' | t }}</a>
  <header role="banner">
    <nav aria-label="{{ 'accessibility.main_navigation' | t }}">...</nav>
  </header>
  <main id="main-content">
    <!-- All page content inside main -->
  </main>
  <footer role="contentinfo">
    <nav aria-label="{{ 'accessibility.footer_navigation' | t }}">...</nav>
  </footer>
</body>

Single <header>, <main>, <footer> per page
Multiple <nav> elements must have distinct aria-label
All content must live inside a landmark

.skip-link {
  position: absolute;
  inset-inline-start: -999px;
  z-index: 999;
}
.skip-link:focus {
  position: fixed;
  inset-block-start: 0;
  inset-inline-start: 0;
  padding: 1rem;
  background: var(--color-background);
  color: var(--color-foreground);
}

Headings

One <h1> per page, never skip levels (h1 → h3)
Use real heading elements, not styled divs
Template: <h1> is typically the page/product title

Focus Management

Focus Indicators

/* All interactive elements */
:focus-visible {
  outline: 2px solid rgb(var(--color-focus));
  outline-offset: 2px;
}

/* High contrast mode */
@media (forced-colors: active) {
  :focus-visible {
    outline: 3px solid LinkText;
  }
}

Minimum 3:1 contrast ratio for focus indicators
Use :focus-visible (not :focus) to avoid showing on click
Never outline: none without a visible replacement

Focus Trapping (Modals/Drawers)

Trap focus inside modals, drawers, and dialogs
Return focus to trigger element on close
First focusable element gets focus on open
Query all focusable elements: a[href], button:not([disabled]), input:not([disabled]), select, textarea, [tabindex]:not([tabindex="-1"])

See focus and keyboard patterns for full FocusTrap implementation.

Component Patterns

Product Card

<article class="product-card" aria-labelledby="ProductTitle-{{ product.id }}">
  <a href="{{ product.url }}" class="product-card__link" aria-labelledby="ProductTitle-{{ product.id }}">
    <img
      src="{{ product.featured_image | image_url: width: 400 }}"
      alt="{{ product.featured_image.alt | escape }}"
      loading="lazy"
      width="{{ product.featured_image.width }}"
      height="{{ product.featured_image.height }}"
    >
  </a>
  <h3 id="ProductTitle-{{ product.id }}">
    <a href="{{ product.url }}">{{ product.title }}</a>
  </h3>
  <div class="product-card__price" aria-label="{{ 'products.price_label' | t: price: product.price | money }}">
    {{ product.price | money }}
  </div>
  <button
    class="product-card__quick-add"
    tabindex="-1"
    aria-label="{{ 'products.quick_add' | t: title: product.title }}"
  >
    {{ 'products.add_to_cart' | t }}
  </button>
</article>

Rules:

Single tab stop per card (the main link)
tabindex="-1" on mouse-only shortcuts (quick add)
aria-labelledby on <article> pointing to the title
Descriptive alt text on images; empty alt="" if decorative

Carousel

<div
  role="region"
  aria-roledescription="carousel"
  aria-label="{{ section.settings.heading | escape }}"
>
  <div class="carousel__controls">
    <button
      aria-label="{{ 'accessibility.previous_slide' | t }}"
      aria-controls="CarouselSlides-{{ section.id }}"
    >{% render 'icon-chevron-left' %}</button>
    <button
      aria-label="{{ 'accessibility.next_slide' | t }}"
      aria-controls="CarouselSlides-{{ section.id }}"
    >{% render 'icon-chevron-right' %}</button>
    <button
      aria-label="{{ 'accessibility.pause_slideshow' | t }}"
      aria-pressed="false"
    >{% render 'icon-pause' %}</button>
  </div>

  <div id="CarouselSlides-{{ section.id }}" aria-live="polite">
    {% for slide in section.blocks %}
      <div
        role="group"
        aria-roledescription="slide"
        aria-label="{{ 'accessibility.slide_n_of_total' | t: n: forloop.index, total: forloop.length }}"
        {% unless forloop.first %}aria-hidden="true"{% endunless %}
      >
        {{ slide.settings.content }}
      </div>
    {% endfor %}
  </div>
</div>

Rules:

Auto-rotation minimum 5 seconds, pause on hover/focus
Play/pause button required for auto-rotating carousels
aria-live="polite" on slide container (set to "off" during auto-rotation)
aria-hidden="true" on inactive slides
Each slide: role="group" + aria-roledescription="slide"

<dialog
  id="Modal-{{ section.id }}"
  aria-labelledby="ModalTitle-{{ section.id }}"
  aria-modal="true"
>
  <div class="modal__header">
    <h2 id="ModalTitle-{{ section.id }}">{{ title }}</h2>
    <button
      type="button"
      aria-label="{{ 'accessibility.close' | t }}"
      on:click="/closeModal"
    >{% render 'icon-close' %}</button>
  </div>
  <div class="modal__content">
    <!-- Content -->
  </div>
</dialog>

Rules:

Prefer native <dialog> element for modal UI when feasible. showModal() provides native modal behavior, Escape-to-close, and backdrop handling, but role="dialog" remains a valid fallback when native <dialog> is not a good fit.
aria-labelledby pointing to the title (not aria-label with a string — aria-labelledby stays in sync when the title changes)
Close on Escape key (native with <dialog>)
Focus first interactive element on open
Return focus to trigger on close

Cart Drawer

Same as modal pattern but with additional:

Live region for cart count updates: <span aria-live="polite" aria-atomic="true">
Clear "remove item" buttons with aria-label="{{ 'cart.remove_item' | t: title: item.title }}"
Quantity inputs with associated labels

Forms

<form action="{{ routes.cart_url }}" method="post">
  <div class="form__field">
    <label for="Email-{{ section.id }}">{{ 'forms.email' | t }}</label>
    <input
      type="email"
      id="Email-{{ section.id }}"
      name="email"
      required
      aria-required="true"
      autocomplete="email"
      aria-describedby="EmailError-{{ section.id }}"
    >
    <p
      id="EmailError-{{ section.id }}"
      class="form__error"
      role="alert"
      hidden
    >{{ 'forms.email_required' | t }}</p>
  </div>
</form>

Rules:

Every input has a visible <label> with matching for/id
Use <fieldset>/<legend> for radio/checkbox groups
Error messages: role="alert" + aria-describedby linking to input
aria-invalid="true" on invalid inputs
autocomplete attributes on common fields
Required fields: required + aria-required="true" + visual indicator

<form class="facets">
  <div class="facets__group">
    <button
      type="button"
      aria-expanded="false"
      aria-controls="FilterColor-{{ section.id }}"
    >{{ 'filters.color' | t }}</button>
    <fieldset id="FilterColor-{{ section.id }}" hidden>
      <legend class="visually-hidden">{{ 'filters.filter_by_color' | t }}</legend>
      {% for color in colors %}
        <label>
          <input type="checkbox" name="filter.color" value="{{ color }}">
          {{ color }}
        </label>
      {% endfor %}
    </fieldset>
  </div>
  <div aria-live="polite" aria-atomic="true">
    {{ 'filters.results_count' | t: count: results.size }}
  </div>
</form>

Price Display

{% if product.compare_at_price > product.price %}
  <div class="price" aria-label="{{ 'products.sale_price_label' | t: sale_price: product.price | money, original_price: product.compare_at_price | money }}">
    <s aria-hidden="true">{{ product.compare_at_price | money }}</s>
    <span>{{ product.price | money }}</span>
  </div>
{% else %}
  <div class="price" aria-label="{{ 'products.price_label' | t: price: product.price | money }}">
    {{ product.price | money }}
  </div>
{% endif %}

Use aria-label on both sale and regular price paths — screen readers need context for any price display
aria-hidden="true" on the visual strikethrough to avoid duplicate reading

Accordion

<details>
  <summary>{{ block.settings.heading }}</summary>
  <div class="accordion__content">
    {{ block.settings.content }}
  </div>
</details>

Native <details>/<summary> provides keyboard and screen reader support automatically.

Tabs

<div role="tablist" aria-label="{{ 'accessibility.product_tabs' | t }}">
  {% for tab in tabs %}
    <button
      role="tab"
      id="Tab-{{ tab.id }}"
      aria-selected="{% if forloop.first %}true{% else %}false{% endif %}"
      aria-controls="Panel-{{ tab.id }}"
      tabindex="{% if forloop.first %}0{% else %}-1{% endif %}"
    >{{ tab.title }}</button>
  {% endfor %}
</div>
{% for tab in tabs %}
  <div
    role="tabpanel"
    id="Panel-{{ tab.id }}"
    aria-labelledby="Tab-{{ tab.id }}"
    {% unless forloop.first %}hidden{% endunless %}
    tabindex="0"
  >{{ tab.content }}</div>
{% endfor %}

Arrow keys navigate between tabs (left/right)
Only active tab has tabindex="0", others -1

<nav aria-label="{{ 'accessibility.main_navigation' | t }}">
  <ul role="list">
    {% for link in linklists.main-menu.links %}
      <li>
        {% if link.links.size > 0 %}
          <button aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="Submenu-{{ forloop.index }}">
            {{ link.title }}
          </button>
          <ul id="Submenu-{{ forloop.index }}" hidden role="list">
            {% for child in link.links %}
              <li><a href="{{ child.url }}">{{ child.title }}</a></li>
            {% endfor %}
          </ul>
        {% else %}
          <a href="{{ link.url }}">{{ link.title }}</a>
        {% endif %}
      </li>
    {% endfor %}
  </ul>
</nav>

<button aria-describedby="Tooltip-{{ block.id }}">
  {{ 'labels.info' | t }}
</button>
<div id="Tooltip-{{ block.id }}" role="tooltip" popover>
  {{ block.settings.tooltip_text }}
</div>

Mobile Accessibility

Touch targets: minimum 44x44px, 8px spacing between targets
No orientation lock: never restrict to portrait/landscape
No hover-only content: everything accessible via tap
Use dvh instead of vh for mobile viewport units

Animation & Motion

/* Always provide reduced motion */
@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
  *, *::before, *::after {
    animation-duration: 0.01ms !important;
    animation-iteration-count: 1 !important;
    transition-duration: 0.01ms !important;
    scroll-behavior: auto !important;
  }
}

No flashing above 3 times per second
Auto-playing animations need pause/stop controls
Meaningful animations only — don't animate for decoration

.visually-hidden {
  position: absolute;
  width: 1px;
  height: 1px;
  padding: 0;
  margin: -1px;
  overflow: hidden;
  clip: rect(0, 0, 0, 0);
  white-space: nowrap;
  border: 0;
}

Use for screen-reader-only content like labels and descriptions.

Progressive Enhancement

Interactive components should work without JavaScript where possible. Provide <noscript> fallbacks for JS-dependent controls:

{%- comment -%} Variant picker with noscript fallback {%- endcomment -%}
<variant-picker>
  <!-- JS-enhanced radio buttons / swatches here -->
</variant-picker>
<noscript>
  <select name="id" aria-label="{{ 'products.select_variant' | t }}">
    {% for variant in product.variants %}
      <option value="{{ variant.id }}" {% unless variant.available %}disabled{% endunless %}>
        {{ variant.title }} - {{ variant.price | money }}
      </option>
    {% endfor %}
  </select>
</noscript>

Live Region for Dynamic Updates

When selections change (variants, filters, cart), announce the change to screen readers:

<div aria-live="polite" aria-atomic="true" class="visually-hidden">
  {{ 'products.variant_selected' | t: variant: selected_variant.title }}
</div>

Use the clear-then-set pattern in JS to ensure announcements fire reliably:

announce(message) {
  this.liveRegion.textContent = '';
  requestAnimationFrame(() => {
    this.liveRegion.textContent = message;
  });
}

Color Contrast

| Element | Minimum Ratio |

|---------|---------------|

| Normal text (<18px / <14px bold) | 4.5:1 |

| Large text (≥18px / ≥14px bold) | 3:1 |

| UI components & graphics | 3:1 |

| Focus indicators | 3:1 |

Never rely solely on color to convey information — always pair with text, icons, or patterns.

References

Component accessibility patterns
Focus and keyboard patterns

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