How to fix aria dialog name on Shopify Plus

Add a descriptive accessible name to every dialog and alertdialog element using aria-label or aria-labelledby so screen-reader users know what the dialog is about.

Steps for Shopify Plus

  1. Shopify Plus uses the same theme-editing flow as standard Shopify.
  2. Go to Online Store → Themes → Edit code, then locate your dialog/modal/cart-drawer Liquid snippets (e.g. snippets/cart-drawer.liquid, snippets/modal.liquid).
  3. If you use a custom storefront or headless build via Shopify Storefront API, edit the React/Vue/Svelte component that renders the modal and add aria-labelledby or aria-label to the outermost dialog element.
  4. For third-party apps that inject dialogs (e.g. upsell popups), contact the app developer or use a custom Script Tag / Theme App Extension to patch the ARIA attributes after the element is inserted into the DOM.
  5. Verify with axe DevTools or a screen reader after each change.
Official Shopify Plus documentation ↗
<div role="dialog" aria-modal="true" aria-labelledby="cart-dialog-title">
  <h2 id="cart-dialog-title">Your Shopping Cart</h2>
  <!-- dialog content -->
</div>

<!-- OR, when no visible heading exists -->
<div role="dialog" aria-modal="true" aria-label="Newsletter signup">
  <!-- dialog content -->
</div>

What is aria dialog name?

Any time your store shows a popup, modal, or overlay — such as a cookie notice, quick-view product panel, cart drawer, age-verification gate, or newsletter signup — that element needs an accessible name. An "accessible name" is a short label that screen readers announce when the dialog opens, telling the user what the popup is for. It is provided either by pointing to a visible heading inside the dialog (aria-labelledby) or by writing a brief label directly on the element (aria-label). Without one, screen-reader users land in the dialog with no context about its purpose.

Screen readers used by blind and low-vision shoppers announce the accessible name of a dialog the moment it opens. Without a name, a user hears only "dialog" — with no indication of whether it is a cart, a promo, a warning, or something else — making the popup effectively unusable. This violates WCAG 2.1 Success Criterion 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value), which is a legal requirement under the ADA, the European Accessibility Act, and similar laws in many countries. Beyond legal risk, an inaccessible checkout or cart modal directly reduces conversions among the estimated 7–8 % of online shoppers who rely on assistive technology. Fixing this also benefits keyboard-only users and voice-control software that rely on the same label.

See the complete Aria dialog name guide for every platform and the full background.

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