Shopify Accessibility Statement: Template + 8-Section Guide (Free)

A published accessibility statement is the most under-rated, lowest-effort, highest-leverage piece of accessibility documentation a Shopify merchant can ship. Required by the EAA across the EU, by the RGAA in France, by the UK's PSBAR for public-sector resellers, and treated as a recognized legal defense under US ADA Title III. The technical work to publish one is a one-hour Shopify Page edit. The template below is open and free to use.

Why publish a statement — three reasons

1. Legal defense

Active remediation effort is a recognized legal defense in ADA Title III settlement negotiations. The published statement is the documented proof: it names the standard the storefront targets, declares the current conformance level, lists known limitations with timelines, and provides a feedback mechanism for users to report issues.

In an ADA demand letter response, defense counsel's first question is "what does the storefront's accessibility documentation look like". A published statement plus a scan-history audit trail is the operative answer.

2. EAA compliance

The European Accessibility Act explicitly requires ecommerce services to publish an accessibility statement. Member-state implementations (Germany's BFSG, France's RGAA-extended-to-ecommerce, Spain's Real Decreto 193/2023) all carry the statement requirement forward.

EAA enforcement is delegated to per-member-state market-surveillance authorities. The statement is one of the first artifacts those authorities check during a complaint review.

3. User experience

The feedback mechanism in the statement (typically accessibility@<domain>.com) lets users with disabilities report issues directly. That feedback loop catches issues automation misses — content authoring problems, third-party app regressions, screen-reader-specific quirks — and feeds the merchant's remediation backlog.

The 8-section template

The full template, ready to paste into a Shopify Page at /pages/accessibility-statement, lives at /templates/accessibility-statement. The structure:

1. Commitment statement

[Store name] is committed to ensuring digital accessibility for people with disabilities. We are continually improving the user experience for everyone and applying the relevant accessibility standards.

One sentence. Establishes the commitment. Required by every regulatory framework.

2. Conformance status

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) define requirements for designers and developers to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. They define three levels of conformance: Level A, Level AA, and Level AAA. [Store name] is partially conformant with WCAG 2.1 and WCAG 2.2 Level AA. Partially conformant means that some parts of the content do not fully conform to the standard.

Three statuses are valid: conformant (meets every applicable criterion), partially conformant (meets most but has known limitations), non-conformant (significant gaps remain). Be honest. "Partially conformant" with documented limitations is the legally-stronger posture than "fully conformant" with a hidden gap that surfaces in litigation.

3. Compatibility with browsers and assistive technology

[Store name] is designed to be compatible with the following assistive technologies: the latest versions of JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver (macOS and iOS), and TalkBack (Android). The website is compatible with the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge.

Names the assistive technology + browser combinations the merchant has tested. If you have not tested with a particular AT, do not list it — listing untested AT is a misrepresentation.

4. Technical specifications

Accessibility of [Store name] relies on the following technologies to work with the particular combination of web browser and any assistive technologies or plugins installed on your computer: HTML, WAI-ARIA, CSS, JavaScript. These technologies are relied upon for conformance with the accessibility standards used.

Documents the underlying tech stack so users with non-standard browsers / AT understand the compatibility scope.

5. Limitations and alternatives

Despite our best efforts to ensure accessibility of [Store name], there may be some limitations. Below is a description of known limitations and potential solutions.

This is the section that converts the statement from boilerplate into legally-defensible documentation. List specific known limitations:

• "Some product images do not yet have descriptive alt text. We are addressing this on a rolling basis. In the meantime, customers can email [email protected] with the product URL to receive a description."
• "Our accessibility statement is currently available in English only. Translations to French and German are scheduled for [date]."
• "Some third-party app embeds (reviews widget, chat widget) have not been independently audited. We are working with vendors to verify their accessibility."

Specific limitations + remediation timelines + workarounds is exactly what an accessibility-firm audit produces. AccessComply's scan output feeds this section directly.

6. Assessment approach

[Store name] assesses the accessibility of its storefront through automated scanning powered by AccessComply (Playwright + axe-core), running against WCAG 2.1 + 2.2 Level AA on every commerce-facing page at desktop and mobile viewports. Manual evaluation is performed periodically by [team / external auditor].

Documents the methodology so users + regulators understand the rigor of the conformance claim.

7. Feedback mechanism

We welcome your feedback on the accessibility of [Store name]. Please let us know if you encounter accessibility barriers:

• Email: accessibility@[your-domain].com
• Phone: [phone number]
• Visitor address: [postal address]

We try to respond to feedback within 5 business days.

Required by every regulatory framework. The W3C's template recommends the email-and-one-other-channel pattern. Set up a forwarding rule on the email so it reaches the merchant's actual ticket queue, not a black hole.

8. Date prepared and last reviewed

This statement was prepared on [date]. It was last reviewed on [date].

The "last reviewed" date is what regulators check against the 12-month annual-review window. Update it after every meaningful remediation pass.

How to publish on Shopify

1. Shopify admin → Online Store → Pages → Add page.
2. Title: Accessibility Statement.
3. Page handle: accessibility-statement (so the URL becomes /pages/accessibility-statement).
4. Paste the 8-section template (full text at /templates/accessibility-statement).
5. Customize the placeholders: [Store name], [date], [email], [team].
6. Set Visibility: Visible.
7. Online Store → Themes → Customize → Footer. Add a navigation link to /pages/accessibility-statement so the statement is reachable from every page.
8. Save and publish.

For multilingual stores using Shopify Markets, repeat the process per language. Use the W3C's multilingual generator at w3.org/WAI/planning/statements to produce native-language versions for German, French, Spanish, Italian (the highest-traffic EAA markets).

Auto-generated statements — when AI fits

AccessComply's Citadel and Fortress plans regenerate the statement automatically after every scan. The auto-generated statement:

• Pulls the conformance level from the latest scan (numerical violation count → "fully" / "partially" / "non-conformant").
• Lists every unresolved violation as a known limitation with a remediation timeline tied to the merchant's backup retention policy.
• Updates the "last reviewed" date.
• Publishes via the Shopify Admin API to the existing /pages/accessibility-statement page.

The merchant retains editorial control — the auto-generated content is staged for review before publication. Auto-publish is opt-in.

What NOT to put in the statement

• Do not claim full conformance you cannot verify. Listing assistive technology you have not tested or claiming "100% WCAG AA conformance" without a real audit is a misrepresentation that backfires in litigation.
• Do not omit known limitations. A statement that says "fully conformant" while the storefront has a documented violation is worse than no statement — it documents bad faith.
• Do not over-claim auto-fix coverage. AccessComply documents 70-80% auto-fix coverage; do not paraphrase that as 100%.
• Do not promise unrealistic remediation timelines. A 30-day timeline that slips becomes evidence of inactivity.

Quick checklist

• Statement published at /pages/accessibility-statement.
• Linked from the homepage footer (RGAA explicit requirement; best-practice elsewhere).
• All 8 sections completed with merchant-specific content.
• Conformance status is honest (partially conformant with limitations is fine).
• Feedback mechanism (email + at least one other channel) is monitored.
• "Last reviewed" date is current.
• Multilingual versions exist for Markets serving non-English EAA countries.

Further reading

• Free Shopify accessibility statement template (full 8-section text)
• W3C Accessibility Statement Generator (multilingual)
• EAA pillar guide for Shopify merchants
• RGAA / France EAA implementation
• BFSG / Germany EAA implementation
• Glossary — accessibility statement
• Glossary — RGAA
• Glossary — BFSG
• Glossary — Equality Act 2010 (UK)
• AccessComply — Shopify accessibility complete guide