How to fix landmark contentinfo is top level on Shopify
Move your footer element (or any element with role="contentinfo") to the top level of the page so it is not nested inside another landmark region.
Steps for Shopify
- In your Shopify admin, go to Online Store → Themes → click 'Edit code' on your active theme.
- Open the file `layout/theme.liquid` — this is the master page template that wraps all pages.
- Locate the `<footer>` tag (or any element with `role="contentinfo"`). Check what HTML elements wrap it. It should be a direct child of `<body>` (or at most inside a plain, role-free `<div>` wrapper).
- If the footer is inside a `<main>` tag or a `<div role="main">` or similar landmark, cut the entire footer block (from its opening tag to its closing tag) and paste it outside/after the closing tag of that landmark element.
- Click 'Save'. Preview your theme and run axe DevTools in your browser to verify the fix.
- If your footer is in a separate snippet (e.g., `snippets/footer.liquid`), the fix is the same — move where that snippet is *included* in `theme.liquid`, not the snippet file itself.
<footer>
<!-- ✅ CORRECT: <footer> is a direct child of <body>,
at the same level as <header> and <main> -->
<p>© 2024 My Store. All rights reserved.</p>
</footer>
<!-- ❌ INCORRECT: <footer> nested inside <main> -->
<main>
<p>Page content here...</p>
<footer> <!-- This fails landmark-contentinfo-is-top-level -->
<p>© 2024 My Store.</p>
</footer>
</main>What is landmark contentinfo is top level?
Every webpage has structural "landmarks" — special regions like the header, main content area, navigation, and footer — that act like a table of contents for assistive technologies. The `contentinfo` landmark is the technical name for a page's footer: the region that typically contains copyright notices, legal links, and contact info. The WCAG rule `landmark-contentinfo-is-top-level` requires that this footer landmark sits at the outermost level of the page's structure (a direct child of `<body>`), rather than being accidentally wrapped inside another landmark like `<main>`, `<article>`, or `<section>`. When it is nested inside another landmark, screen reader users get a confusing, incorrect picture of your page's structure.
Screen reader users — including people with visual impairments — rely on landmarks to jump directly to key page sections without reading every word. When your footer is buried inside another landmark, screen readers may announce it incorrectly (e.g., "footer inside main"), causing real confusion and navigation errors for blind shoppers. This is a WCAG 2.1 failure (specifically related to Success Criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships and 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value), which exposes your store to accessibility legal risk — including ADA and EAA complaints — and can harm your brand reputation. Fixing it is a quick code change that immediately improves the experience for assistive technology users and demonstrates good-faith accessibility compliance.
See the complete Landmark contentinfo is top level guide for every platform and the full background.
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