How to fix aria dialog name on Squarespace

Steps for Squarespace

1. Squarespace has limited direct HTML access. Go to Website → Pages and identify which page or section contains the popup/announcement bar/lightbox.
2. For announcement bars and promotional popups, go to Marketing → Promotional Pop-Up or Website → Announcement Bar and check if an ARIA label option exists in the settings panel.
3. For custom Code Blocks or Embed Blocks, click the block, choose Edit, and add your dialog HTML with aria-labelledby or aria-label included in the markup.
4. For site-wide injection, go to Settings → Advanced → Code Injection, and in the Footer section add a small JavaScript snippet that runs after load and patches the aria attribute: document.querySelectorAll('[role="dialog"]').forEach(el => { if (!el.getAttribute('aria-label') && !el.getAttribute('aria-labelledby')) { el.setAttribute('aria-label', 'Site notification'); } });
5. Publish changes and verify with axe DevTools.

<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.