Plaza Theme and WCAG 2.2 AA Compliance

At AppDirect, we are committed to delivering accessible digital experiences for all users. Accessibility is a foundational consideration in our design and development process, ensuring our digital products are usable by people of all abilities.

The Plaza theme has undergone an accessibility audit conducted by Level Access, a third-party accessibility specialist. This audit was guided by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2, Level AA standards. Based on their findings, we have addressed all critical accessibility issues identified in the report.

Our testing strategy includes a combination of:

• Internal evaluations using automated tools and manual testing.
• Third-party audits to validate accessibility from an external perspective.

Scope of compliance:

• Applies to components and layouts included in the base Plaza theme.
• Focuses on issues identified as critical in the 3rd party audit conducted by Level Access.
• Excludes any customer customizations (see next section).
• Non-critical issues identified during the audit are tracked and will be addressed in future iterations.

📝 Note: Accessibility updates are automatically applied to your storefront if you're using Plaza and haven’t customized components with the Storefront Builder Toolkit — no action is required.

Customized Components and Customer Responsibility

While the Plaza theme provides an accessible foundation, it’s important to note that any customized components introduced by customers are not covered under our WCAG 2.2 AA compliance.

Accessibility of these customized elements is the responsibility of the customer.

Why this matters

Custom components can unintentionally introduce accessibility barriers if not built with inclusive practices in mind. These issues may affect:

• Keyboard navigation
• Screen reader compatibility
• Color contrast and visual focus
• Responsive behavior and mobile accessibility

To support accessible development, we provide detailed guidance and best practices in our Developer Accessibility Documentation. This resource includes information on how to audit custom components for accessibility issues, recommended tools, testing techniques, and implementation patterns to help ensure your customizations align with WCAG 2.2 AA standards.

Resources and Best Practices

Getting Started

• Developer Accessibility Documentation – How to build and audit accessible custom components.
• Storefront Accessibility Statement – Guidance for adding an accessibility statement to your storefront.

• Plaza Theme Version – Check for the newest available version of the Plaza theme.

Standards and Best Practices

• WCAG 2.2 Guidelines – Official Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
• WAI-ARIA Authoring Practices – Best practices for building accessible components.
• Color Contrast Checker (WebAIM) – Validate visual contrast ratios.

Testing Tools

• Deque Axe DevTools – Automated accessibility testing.
• Google Lighthouse – Chrome DevTools accessibility audits.
• NVDA Screen Reader – Free screen reader for Windows.
• VoiceOver (Apple) – Built-in screen reader for macOS and iOS.

External Partners

• Level Access – Third-party accessibility audit and compliance support.