WCAG Checklist for Squarespace Sites – Ireland

Why Accessibility Matters on Squarespace

Squarespace sites often serve as the sole point of contact between your business and customers — a poorly accessible site shuts out people with disabilities and exposes you to legal risk. The EU Accessibility Act (EAA) moves into enforcement on 28 June 2025, meaning sites that don't meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA can face legal action. This checklist covers six of the most common, fixable issues found on Squarespace sites built by small teams.

Image Alt Text

The Issue: Images without alt text create a blank wall for screen reader users and break the page layout for anyone on a slow connection or with images disabled.

How to check on Squarespace: Right-click any image on your site, select "Inspect." If you see `alt=""` or no `alt` attribute at all, it needs text. Add it in Squarespace by clicking the image in edit mode, opening the Design panel, and filling in the "Alt Text" field with a short, meaningful description of what the image shows (not "image" or "photo").

• Do this for: product photos, team headshots, icons next to service names, hero images, and any image that carries meaning on the page
• Don't add alt text to decorative spacer images or pure background graphics
• Keep alt text under 125 characters — descriptive but concise

Color Contrast

The Issue: Light gray text on white, or navy buttons with dark backgrounds, become unreadable for people with low vision or color blindness — and fail WCAG automatically.

How to check on Squarespace: Use the free WAVE browser extension (wave.webaim.org/extension) or WebAIM Contrast Checker. Paste your site URL into WAVE; it will flag all text that falls below the WCAG AA standard (4.5:1 for normal text, 3:1 for large text). Check your body text, button labels, form field text, and link colors.

• Most common culprits on Squarespace: light gray body text (#999 or lighter), white text on pastel backgrounds, and custom brand colors that look good in mockups but fail in the browser
• Test on multiple devices — your monitor brightness may be masking the problem
• Squarespace's default text styles usually pass; custom CSS is where contrast breaks down

Form Labels

The Issue: Email signup forms and contact forms without visible labels make it impossible for screen reader users to know what to type into each field.

How to check on Squarespace: Open your contact or signup form in edit mode. For each field (name, email, message, etc.), confirm there is a label visible on the page next to or above the input box. Click the field and check the form settings; in Squarespace, the "Label" field should be filled and set to show (not hide).

• Hidden placeholder text (like gray "Enter your name" inside the field) does not count as a label — add an explicit label above or beside the field
• Every form field needs its own label; don't use a single label for multiple fields
• Test your form with a screen reader (NVDA is free and open source) to confirm it reads the label when you focus the field

Link Names

The Issue: Links that say "Click here," "Read more," or contain only an icon, confuse screen reader users who hear each link out of context and can't tell where it goes.

How to check on Squarespace: Use WAVE to scan for "Missing link text." Manually check for links that are just icons or images (like a LinkedIn logo) without alt text or visible label. Use your keyboard to Tab through the page and listen to what each link says.

• Links should be descriptive: "View our case study on social housing" instead of "Read more"
• Icon links (e.g., social media in your footer) need visible text nearby, or an alt text on the icon, or hidden screen reader text (add a "Screen Reader" label in Squarespace)
• Don't use empty anchor tags — every link must have a name

HTML Document Language

The Issue: Without a declared language, screen readers cannot pronounce your site correctly and search engines won't know which region to serve it to.

How to check on Squarespace: View your site's page source (Ctrl+U or Cmd+U in the browser). Look for `<html lang=` near the very top. It should say something like `lang="en"` or `lang="en-IE"`. If it's missing or blank, contact Squarespace support or add it via a code injection if your plan allows.

• Squarespace usually sets this automatically when you select your site language during setup, but check it on your live site to be sure
• If you have a multilingual site, set the language for each version separately
• This is a one-time fix that has big payoff for screen readers and SEO

Button Text

The Issue: Buttons with only an icon (a hamburger menu, a magnifying glass for search, a shopping cart) leave screen reader users guessing what will happen when they click.

How to check on Squarespace: Use WAVE to find "Missing button text." Tab through your site with the keyboard and listen to what the screen reader says when you land on each button. Icon-only buttons should announce what they do.

• Add visible text inside the button if space allows (e.g., "Search," "Menu," "Add to Cart")
• If the button is icon-only, use Squarespace's form settings or add a hidden "aria-label" or screen reader text via code injection
• Check your header navigation, footer icons, shopping cart button, and any "read more" or call-to-action buttons

Next Steps

Run your Squarespace site through WAVE (free browser extension) to see all failing checks at once, then work through this list. Most of these fixes take 10–30 minutes each. Prioritize images and form labels first, as they're the most used accessibility features. Once you've fixed these six issues, your site will meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA and be ready for the EAA enforcement date. Test with a real screen reader (NVDA on Windows, VoiceOver on Mac) to catch what automated tools miss.

This is technical WCAG guidance, not legal advice.