Sour Punch Accessibility Audit
Web Accessibility Remediation for Sour Punch website to make it conforms with the WCAG technical standards and comply with the ADA.
This Sour Punch accessibility audit and WCAG 2.1 AA remediation covered the lively online store of American Licorice Company’s sour-candy brand. Born in the 1990s, Sour Punch is known for its sour straws, bites and filled straws, and for a bold, playful “Embrace Your Punch” voice aimed at a younger, sweets-loving audience.
A brand this visual and energetic leans on imagery, animation and interactive product choices — flavours, formats, bundles — plus a full cart and checkout. For a shopper using a screen reader or a keyboard, whether those playful controls and that checkout are accessible is exactly what decides if they can buy.
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. A heavily designed, animation-rich brand site carries a specific risk: motion that cannot be paused, controls a screen reader cannot name, or a checkout that traps keyboard focus all turn willing customers away.
Scope and standard
Our Sour Punch 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, bundles and deals, the cart and checkout, any motion or animation, and the brand content.
How we ran the Sour Punch 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 Sour Punch is a bold, design-led brand store, our Sour Punch accessibility audit focused on the parts that most affect a shopper:
- Flavour and format pickers need names and states a screen reader can read, so a shopper knows which sour straw or bite is selected, not just which looks chosen.
- Motion and animation need a way to reduce or pause it, and must never flash, so the playful design does not become a barrier or a hazard.
- Product images need meaningful alternative text, since the candy’s look and flavour cues are otherwise unavailable without sight.
- 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.
- Navigation and brand content need sufficient colour contrast, visible focus and clean reflow at high zoom.
Outcome
This Sour Punch accessibility audit, combining manual and automated testing with remediation, brought the brand’s product choices, motion and checkout into line with WCAG 2.1 AA and ADA Title III expectations, so a shopper using a screen reader or a keyboard can pick a flavour and check out without barriers. Because the design leans on motion and imagery, every fix was verified with assistive technology rather than assumed from an automated pass.