How to fix aria dialog name on WooCommerce

Steps for WooCommerce

1. WooCommerce dialogs are typically rendered by your WordPress theme or a page-builder plugin.
2. For theme-provided modals (e.g. cart drawer, quick-view), go to Appearance → Theme File Editor (or edit via FTP/SFTP) and locate the relevant template file — often woocommerce/cart/mini-cart.php, or a partial in your child theme.
3. Find the dialog's container element and add aria-labelledby pointing to the heading's id, or add aria-label with a descriptive name.
4. If using a plugin like WooCommerce Quick View or CartFlows, check the plugin's settings for accessibility options first; if none exist, use a child theme or a small Code Snippets plugin (wp_footer hook) to patch the attribute via JavaScript after the DOM loads.
5. Install the 'axe DevTools' browser extension, load a page with the dialog, open it, and confirm the name is announced.

<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.