How to fix landmark contentinfo is top level on Squarespace

Steps for Squarespace

1. Squarespace manages its HTML output automatically. In most Squarespace templates, the footer is already rendered as a top-level landmark — but custom code injections can break this.
2. Go to Website → Pages → scroll to the Footer section and ensure your footer content is placed in the native Footer area, not injected into a page section or content block.
3. Check Settings → Advanced → Code Injection (Footer field): if you have custom HTML here that wraps content in a <footer> or role="contentinfo" element, make sure it does not duplicate or nest a footer landmark inside another one.
4. If using custom CSS/JavaScript or third-party widgets that inject a second <footer>, remove the duplicate or remove the role from the inner element.
5. Use axe DevTools on your live site to verify only one top-level contentinfo landmark exists.

What is landmark contentinfo is top level?

Every webpage typically has a footer that contains things like copyright notices, contact links, and legal disclaimers. In HTML, the `<footer>` tag (or any element with `role="contentinfo"`) is a special navigation landmark that screen readers use to help users jump directly to site-wide footer content. The WCAG rule `landmark-contentinfo-is-top-level` means that this footer landmark must sit at the top level of the page — a direct child of `<body>` — rather than being wrapped inside another landmark element like `<main>`, `<header>`, `<section>`, or `<article>`. When your footer is nested inside another landmark, screen readers get confused about the page's structure and may not correctly announce or navigate to the footer.

Screen reader users — including many people with visual impairments or motor disabilities — rely on landmark regions to skip around a page efficiently, much like sighted users scan headings visually. When your `contentinfo` (footer) landmark is buried inside another landmark, assistive technologies either skip it or mis-announce it, making your site harder or impossible to navigate for these users. This is a WCAG 2.1 failure (Success Criterion 1.3.6 / best practice under 4.1.2), meaning your store may face legal accessibility risk under laws like the ADA (USA), EAA (EU), or AODA (Canada). Fixing it also signals high HTML quality to search engines, which increasingly factor accessibility into crawl quality, and avoids potential legal complaints or demand letters that are increasingly common against ecommerce stores.

See the complete Landmark contentinfo is top level guide for every platform and the full background.