Peak and Valley Accessibility Audit
Web Accessibility Remediation for McClures website to make it conforms with the WCAG technical standards and comply with the ADA.
This Peak and Valley accessibility audit and WCAG 2.1 AA remediation covered the online store of a United States herbal-wellness brand offering science-informed adaptogen and botanical blends.
A wellness brand sells on its ingredient story and guidance — shoppers read what is in a blend, how to use it, choose a product and check out, all through interactive controls. For a shopper using a screen reader or a keyboard, the accessibility of that detail and the checkout decides whether they can buy.
Table of Contents
Why accessibility is critical for an online store
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 wellness brand ingredient and usage detail is the decision: information locked in images, product options a screen reader cannot read, or a product option a screen reader cannot read, or a checkout that traps keyboard focus, quietly turns a willing customer away.
Scope and standard
Our Peak and Valley accessibility audit assessed the store against WCAG 2.1 Level AA, mapped to ADA Title III, across the journeys that matter: product pages, ingredient and usage detail, the cart and checkout, and search and filtering.
How we ran the Peak and Valley 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 Peak and Valley sells on its ingredient story, our Peak and Valley accessibility audit focused on the parts a shopper relies on:
- Product pages need names, sizes and prices in text with labelled “add to cart” controls.
- Ingredient and usage guidance must be real text rather than images, so customers can use products safely.
- Product images need meaningful alternative text.
- 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.
- Search, filtering and navigation need operable controls, visible focus, sufficient colour contrast and clean reflow at high zoom.
Outcome
This Peak and Valley accessibility audit, combining manual and automated testing with remediation, brought the site into line with WCAG 2.1 AA expectations, so people using a screen reader or a keyboard can use it without barriers. Every fix was verified with assistive technology rather than assumed from an automated pass, so the result holds up in real use.