Common Accessibility Fixes: Scanner Issue Resolution Guides

Your accessibility scanner found issues — now what? These practical guides show you exactly how to fix the most common accessibility failures, with before-and-after code examples, explanations of the underlying WCAG criteria, and verification steps.

Each guide is structured around the specific issues that automated scanners like Passiro, axe-core, WAVE, and Lighthouse detect. Instead of reading through an entire specification, you can jump straight to the fix for your specific problem.

How These Guides Work

Every fix guide follows the same pattern:

• What the scanner found — the specific rules and error messages you might see
• Why it matters — the WCAG criteria involved and the impact on real users
• How to fix it — before-and-after code examples for every common scenario
• CMS-specific fixes — guidance for WordPress, Shopify, and other platforms
• How to verify — testing steps to confirm the fix works

Most Common Issues

Based on data from millions of automated scans, these are the accessibility issues that appear most frequently across the web. They are ordered by prevalence — fixing just the top three will resolve the majority of detectable issues on most websites.

Beyond Automated Fixes

Automated scanners typically catch 30-40% of all accessibility issues. The fixes in these guides address the automatically detectable problems, but a truly accessible website also requires manual testing with keyboard navigation and screen readers. See our testing guides for VoiceOver, NVDA, and JAWS to learn how to catch what scanners miss.