WordPress accessibility: the 10 most common failures and where to fix them without code

WordPress itself is reasonably accessible: the core has followed WCAG for years. The failures come from three places: the theme (colours, buttons, menus), plugins (forms, carousels, chats) and content (photos uploaded without a description). This is what repeats most in scans and where each one is fixed.

1. Images without alternative text

The number one failure on any site. Fixed in Media → Library → click the image → "Alternative Text": one sentence saying what is in the photo. If the image is decorative (an ornament, a divider), leave the field empty on purpose; the screen reader skips it.

2. Low contrast in the theme

Light grey on white in subtitles, prices and captions. Appearance → Editor → Styles → Colors (block themes) or Appearance → Customize → Colors (classic themes). Normal text needs 4.5:1 against its background.

3. Links that say "read more" or "click here"

Edit the post, select the link and change the text to something that says where it goes: "See pricing", "Read the article on X". In post listings, many themes have an option to "include the post title in the Read more link".

4. Form fields without a label

Contact Form 7, WPForms and Gravity let you hide the label and keep only the placeholder. The placeholder disappears when typing and screen readers do not read it. Edit the form and turn on the visible label for every field.

5. Language not declared

Settings → General → Site Language. If it says "English" and your site is in Spanish, the screen reader reads Spanish with an English voice.

6. Headings that jump from H2 to H4

In the editor, every heading block has its level. Do not skip levels: H1 (the title), H2 (sections), H3 (subsections). Most themes make the post title the H1 automatically; do not add another H1 in the content.

7. Carousels that move on their own

Slider Revolution, Smart Slider, Elementor's carousel: almost all ship with "autoplay" on. Turn it off or add the pause button ("show controls"). WCAG requires a way to stop anything that moves for more than 5 seconds.

8. Buttons too small on a phone

Social icons in the footer, carousel arrows, the X on the cookie banner. Minimum 24×24 pixels. Customize → Additional CSS can raise the size; many cookie plugins have a "button size" option.

9. Zoom blocked

Some themes and "web app" plugins add user-scalable=no and block zooming on the phone. Look for that option in the theme ("disable zoom") and turn it off.

10. Videos without captions

If the video is on YouTube, turn captions on there (and review them: the automatic ones have errors). If you uploaded it to WordPress, Media → the video → "Text tracks" accepts a .vtt file.

And what menus cannot fix

Dropdown menus that do not open with the keyboard, pop-ups that trap focus, theme icon links without a name: that lives in the theme's code. There, what you need is the corrected HTML to hand to whoever installed it, not another plugin.