How to fix definition list on Shopify

Steps for Shopify

1. In your Shopify admin, go to Online Store → Themes → click Actions → Edit Code on your active theme.
2. Search across theme files (sections/, snippets/, templates/) for `<dl` using the search box at the top of the file list.
3. Common culprits: product.liquid or product-template.liquid (product specs), faq.liquid or collapsible-content.liquid (FAQs), cart.liquid (order summaries).
4. Open each file containing a `<dl>` and edit the HTML directly in the code editor to ensure only `<dt>`, `<dd>`, or wrapping `<div>` elements appear as direct children.
5. If a third-party app renders the `<dl>` (e.g. a product specs app), check that app's settings or contact its support — you may not be able to edit its output directly.
6. Click Save, preview the page, and re-run an axe browser extension scan to verify the fix.

What is definition list?

A definition list (`<dl>`) is an HTML structure designed to pair terms with their descriptions — for example, a product's "Material: Cotton" or "Size: Large." The rules for what goes inside a `<dl>` are strict: it may only contain `<dt>` (definition term) elements and `<dd>` (definition description) elements, optionally wrapped in `<div>` groupings. When other tags or loose text are placed directly inside a `<dl>`, the list is considered malformed. Screen readers and assistive technologies rely on this structure to announce the relationship between a term and its value to users who cannot see the page visually. WCAG Success Criterion 1.3.1 ("Info and Relationships") requires that structure conveyed visually is also conveyed in the code.

Screen reader users — including many customers with visual impairments — depend on correctly structured definition lists to understand product specifications, FAQs, shipping details, and other paired information. A malformed `<dl>` causes screen readers to either skip content or announce it in a confusing, meaningless order, making it impossible for those customers to complete a purchase. Beyond conversions, non-compliance with WCAG 1.3.1 carries real legal risk: accessibility lawsuits against ecommerce stores are rising sharply, and a broken definition list is exactly the kind of machine-detectable violation that appears in demand letters. Fixing it also signals code quality to search engines, which increasingly factor accessibility into rankings.

See the complete Definition list guide for every platform and the full background.