Red Vines Accessibility Audit
Web Accessibility Remediation for RedVines website to make it conforms with the WCAG technical standards and comply with the ADA.
This Red Vines accessibility audit and WCAG 2.1 AA remediation covered the online home of one of America’s best-loved candy brands. Red Vines is the classic red (and black) licorice twist made by the family-owned American Licorice Company since 1914, sold direct to fans alongside the brand’s “Peace, Love & Vines” storytelling.
A brand site like this does two jobs at once: it tells a nostalgic story and it sells candy. Both run on interactive parts — product pages, the shop, cart and checkout, and a store locator for finding Red Vines nearby. For a fan using a screen reader or a keyboard, the accessibility of those parts decides whether they can actually buy a tub of twists.
Table of Contents
Why accessibility is critical for an online candy brand
E-commerce is one of the most active areas of United States web-accessibility law. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title III, an online store is treated as a place of public accommodation, and courts and settlements have repeatedly pointed to WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the working standard for an accessible shop. For a much-loved brand the practical cost is just as real: product pages a screen reader cannot read, or a checkout that traps keyboard focus, quietly turn away a customer who simply wanted to order their favourite candy.
Scope and standard
Our Red Vines accessibility audit assessed the site against WCAG 2.1 Level AA, mapped to ADA Title III, across the journeys that matter for a candy brand: the product and flavour pages, the shop and any bundles or deals, the cart and checkout, the store locator, and the brand and story content.
How we ran the Red Vines accessibility audit
- Screen-reader testing with JAWS and NVDA on Windows, VoiceOver on macOS and iOS, and TalkBack on Android
- Automated audits with Deque axe, Google Lighthouse and WAVE
- Keyboard-only operation of every step, with attention to focus order and a clearly visible focus indicator
- Colour-contrast analysis, plus 400% zoom and reflow testing for low-vision users
What accessibility means on each part of the site
Because Red Vines is part shop and part brand story, our Red Vines accessibility audit focused on the parts a fan actually uses:
- Product and flavour pages need names, sizes and prices in text, with clearly labelled “add to cart” controls, so a screen-reader user can choose a twist or tub without guessing.
- Product images and packaging shots need meaningful alternative text, since the look of the candy is otherwise lost to anyone who cannot see it.
- The cart and checkout need labelled fields, announced errors and a focus order that never traps the keyboard, because this is where the order is completed.
- The store locator needs keyboard-operable controls and results available in text, not by map alone, so a fan can find Red Vines nearby.
- Brand and story content needs a clear heading structure, sufficient colour contrast, visible focus and clean reflow at high zoom.
Outcome
This Red Vines accessibility audit, combining manual and automated testing with remediation, brought the brand’s product pages, shop and checkout into line with WCAG 2.1 AA and ADA Title III expectations, so a fan using a screen reader or a keyboard can browse the flavours, find a store and order without barriers. Because each journey ends in a real purchase, every fix was verified with assistive technology rather than assumed from an automated pass.