Landmark no duplicate contentinfo
Moderate effortFound on 9% of audited stores.
Ensure your page has only one footer/contentinfo landmark by removing or re-marking any duplicate `<footer>` elements or `role="contentinfo"` attributes.
What it is
Every webpage has structural "landmarks" — invisible signposts that screen readers and assistive technology use to navigate the page. The `contentinfo` landmark marks the site-wide footer: the area containing copyright notices, legal links, contact details, and similar site-level information. This landmark is created automatically by an HTML `<footer>` element that is a direct child of `<body>`, or explicitly by adding `role="contentinfo"` to any element. The rule is simple: a page should have exactly one `contentinfo` landmark. If your page contains two or more (for example, a sticky footer widget in addition to your main footer, or a chat widget that injects its own `<footer>`), assistive technology gets confused about which one is the "real" site footer.
Why it matters
Screen reader users — an estimated 7–8 million people in the US alone — rely on landmark navigation to jump directly to page sections without listening to every word. When two `contentinfo` landmarks exist, screen readers either announce both confusingly or skip one entirely, making it harder for visually impaired shoppers to find your return policy, contact information, or legal pages. Beyond accessibility and the real legal risk of ADA/WCAG non-compliance lawsuits (which have steadily increased year-over-year for ecommerce sites), Google's crawler also uses semantic page structure as a quality signal — clean, well-structured HTML is associated with better crawling and indexing. Fixing this issue is also a prerequisite for passing WCAG 2.1 Success Criterion 1.3.6 (Identify Purpose), which is increasingly required by law in the EU, UK, and US.
How to fix it
- Audit your page's HTML to identify every element that creates a contentinfo landmark: any top-level <footer> tag (one whose parent is <body>, <main>, or the document root) and any element with role="contentinfo".
- Determine which one is your true site-wide footer (usually the last element before </body> containing copyright, nav links, and legal text).
- For every extra contentinfo landmark, either: (a) change the element from <footer> to a non-semantic container like <div> or <section> with a descriptive aria-label, or (b) remove the role="contentinfo" attribute and replace it with a more specific role or no role at all.
- If a third-party widget or app (chat bubble, cookie banner, floating cart) is injecting a rogue <footer> or role="contentinfo", check the widget's settings for an accessibility or HTML mode option, or use a CSS/JS workaround to override its markup.
- Re-test with a free browser extension (axe DevTools, WAVE, or Chrome's Lighthouse) to confirm the page now reports only one contentinfo landmark.
- Perform a quick manual screen-reader test: open the page with NVDA (Windows) or VoiceOver (Mac/iOS), trigger the landmarks list (e.g. NVDA+F7 or VO+U), and confirm only one 'contentinfo' entry appears.
Fix it on your platform
Pick your platform for the exact steps.
How to fix landmark no duplicate contentinfo on Shopify
- Go to Online Store → Themes → click 'Edit code' on your active theme.
- Open the layout file: Layout/theme.liquid. Look for any <footer> tag near the bottom of the file — this is your main footer landmark.
- Open Sections/footer-group.liquid or Sections/footer.liquid (name varies by theme) and confirm it contains exactly one top-level <footer> element.
- Search all section and snippet files (Snippets/) for additional <footer> tags or role="contentinfo" by using the theme editor's search (magnifying glass icon). Change any secondary ones to <div> with an appropriate aria-label.
- If a third-party app (e.g. a chat widget installed via the App Embed block) is causing the duplicate, go to Online Store → Themes → Customize → App Embeds, open the app's settings, and look for an HTML/accessibility option to disable its own footer wrapper.
- Save all files and re-test with the axe DevTools browser extension.
How to fix landmark no duplicate contentinfo on WooCommerce
- In your WordPress admin, go to Appearance → Theme File Editor (or use a child theme via FTP/SFTP).
- Open footer.php in your active (child) theme. This file typically contains the single <footer> landmark — confirm it is wrapped in one <footer id="colophon"> or similar element.
- Search all theme PHP files for additional occurrences of <footer or role="contentinfo" using a code editor search across the theme directory.
- If a page builder (Elementor, Divi, Beaver Builder) is in use, open the page in the builder, select any footer widget/section, switch to its Advanced tab, find the HTML Tag setting, and change it from 'footer' to 'div'.
- If a plugin (e.g. a sticky footer bar or chat widget) is injecting a duplicate, check the plugin settings for HTML/accessibility options, or add a small JavaScript snippet in Appearance → Customize → Additional CSS/JS to change its element role: document.querySelector('.plugin-footer-class').removeAttribute('role').
- Update/save and verify with axe DevTools or WAVE browser extension.
How to fix landmark no duplicate contentinfo on BigCommerce
- Go to Storefront → My Themes → click 'Advanced' → 'Edit Theme Files' on your active theme (Stencil).
- Open templates/layout/base.html. Locate the single <footer> element near the bottom — this is your primary contentinfo landmark.
- Search the templates/ directory for any additional <footer> tags or role="contentinfo" attributes using the theme editor search or by downloading the theme ZIP and searching locally.
- Change any secondary <footer> elements to <div role="complementary" aria-label="[descriptive name]"> or simply <div>.
- For third-party scripts injecting a duplicate footer, go to Storefront → Script Manager, locate the relevant script, and edit it to remove or replace the <footer> or role="contentinfo" in its HTML output.
- Upload the corrected theme and run axe DevTools to confirm the fix.
How to fix landmark no duplicate contentinfo on Wix
- Open the Wix Editor for your site. Click on the Footer section at the bottom of the page — in Wix, this is automatically rendered as a <footer role="contentinfo"> in the published HTML.
- Wix does not allow direct HTML editing of the footer landmark itself, but check for any additional 'Footer' sections you may have added: in the Pages & Menu panel, look under each page for custom sections tagged as footers.
- If you have added an HTML Embed widget (Add → Embed → HTML iframe or Custom Code) that contains a <footer> or role="contentinfo", open it and edit the custom HTML to change the element to a <div>.
- For third-party apps from the Wix App Market that inject extra footer markup, check the app's settings panel for an 'HTML wrapper' or 'accessibility' option, or contact the app developer.
- Use Wix's built-in SEO & Accessibility checker (Marketing & SEO → Get Found on Google → SEO Tools) and also test with the WAVE browser extension on the published site URL.
How to fix landmark no duplicate contentinfo on Squarespace
- In your Squarespace admin, go to Pages → scroll to the Footer section. Squarespace renders this as the single <footer> landmark automatically.
- Go to Settings → Advanced → Code Injection. Check the Footer code injection box for any HTML that contains a <footer> tag or role="contentinfo" — remove or change those to <div>.
- In the page editor, if you have added a Code Block (Insert Point → Code) anywhere on the page that outputs a <footer> element, click the block, edit the HTML, and replace <footer> with <div>.
- If a third-party extension or Squarespace Extension is injecting a duplicate, check its settings or contact the developer to request a fix.
- Publish the site and verify with the WAVE or axe DevTools browser extension on the live URL.
How to fix landmark no duplicate contentinfo on Webflow
- Open your project in the Webflow Designer. In the Navigator panel (left sidebar), locate the Footer component — it is typically a Section or Div Block with a Tag set to <footer>.
- Click the Footer element, then in the Element Settings panel (right sidebar, gear icon), confirm the HTML Tag is set to 'footer'. There should be exactly one such element per page.
- Search the Navigator for any other elements whose tag is set to 'footer' or that have a custom attribute role="contentinfo". Select each duplicate, change its HTML Tag to 'div', and add an aria-label attribute if it needs a descriptive name.
- If a third-party embed (Embed widget) injects a <footer> or role="contentinfo", click the Embed element, edit the HTML code, and replace <footer> with <div>.
- Publish the site and test with axe DevTools on the published URL.
How to fix landmark no duplicate contentinfo on Adobe Commerce (Magento)
- In your Magento admin, go to Content → Design → Configuration → select your store view → Edit.
- Navigate to your active theme directory on the server: app/design/frontend/<Vendor>/<Theme>/Magento_Theme/templates/html/. Open footer.phtml — this contains your primary <footer> landmark.
- Search across all theme template files (.phtml) and layout XML files for additional <footer> tags or role="contentinfo" attributes using a code editor or grep: grep -r 'contentinfo\|<footer' app/design/frontend/<Vendor>/<Theme>/
- Change any secondary <footer> elements to <div> with an appropriate aria-label.
- If a third-party module is injecting a duplicate, check the module's template file in app/code/<Vendor>/<Module>/view/frontend/templates/ and override it in your theme.
- Clear the Magento cache (System → Cache Management → Flush Magento Cache) and verify with axe DevTools on the storefront.
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Scan my site freeFrequently asked questions
What is Landmark no duplicate contentinfo?
Every webpage has structural "landmarks" — invisible signposts that screen readers and assistive technology use to navigate the page. The `contentinfo` landmark marks the site-wide footer: the area containing copyright notices, legal links, contact details, and similar site-level information. This landmark is created automatically by an HTML `<footer>` element that is a direct child of `<body>`, or explicitly by adding `role="contentinfo"` to any element. The rule is simple: a page should have exactly one `contentinfo` landmark. If your page contains two or more (for example, a sticky footer widget in addition to your main footer, or a chat widget that injects its own `<footer>`), assistive technology gets confused about which one is the "real" site footer.
Why does landmark no duplicate contentinfo matter?
Screen reader users — an estimated 7–8 million people in the US alone — rely on landmark navigation to jump directly to page sections without listening to every word. When two `contentinfo` landmarks exist, screen readers either announce both confusingly or skip one entirely, making it harder for visually impaired shoppers to find your return policy, contact information, or legal pages. Beyond accessibility and the real legal risk of ADA/WCAG non-compliance lawsuits (which have steadily increased year-over-year for ecommerce sites), Google's crawler also uses semantic page structure as a quality signal — clean, well-structured HTML is associated with better crawling and indexing. Fixing this issue is also a prerequisite for passing WCAG 2.1 Success Criterion 1.3.6 (Identify Purpose), which is increasingly required by law in the EU, UK, and US.
How do I fix landmark no duplicate contentinfo?
Ensure your page has only one footer/contentinfo landmark by removing or re-marking any duplicate `<footer>` elements or `role="contentinfo"` attributes.
Authoritative references
- How to fix this specific rule — Deque/axe (rule reference)
- WCAG 2 overview — W3C WAI
- ARIA basics — MDN