How to fix list on BigCommerce

Steps for BigCommerce

1. In BigCommerce Admin, go to Storefront → My Themes → click Customize on your active theme → select Edit Theme Files (Advanced).
2. Open templates/components/header.html and templates/components/navigation/ — locate the nav `<ul>` blocks and ensure only `<li>` elements are direct children.
3. Open templates/components/footer.html and repeat the check for footer link lists.
4. For category/product pages, check templates/pages/category.html and templates/pages/product.html for any custom list markup.
5. Stencil CLI users: make changes locally in the appropriate Handlebars template files, then run `stencil push` to deploy.
6. Re-test with axe after pushing the theme update.

What is list?

HTML has strict rules about how lists must be structured. An unordered list (`<ul>`) or ordered list (`<ol>`) should contain only `<li>` (list item) elements as direct children — nothing else. Likewise, every `<li>` must live inside a `<ul>`, `<ol>`, or `<menu>` element. A "list" violation means your page has markup that breaks these rules: for example, a `<div>` or `<p>` placed directly inside a `<ul>`, bare `<li>` tags floating outside any list container, or `<li>` elements nested inside each other without a proper parent. These mistakes are often invisible to sighted visitors, but they create a broken experience for users who rely on assistive technology such as screen readers.

Screen readers (used by roughly 7 million Americans) use list structure to announce "list of 5 items" and let users jump between items quickly. Broken list markup confuses this navigation, causing screen reader users to miss navigation menus, product feature lists, size guides, and checkout steps — directly costing you customers and raising legal exposure under ADA, Section 508, and the European Accessibility Act. Google also uses semantic HTML to understand page structure; malformed lists can weaken how well your navigation and content are parsed. Because courts have increasingly applied ADA Title III to e-commerce websites, incorrect accessibility markup is a genuine legal risk, not just a best-practice issue.

See the complete List guide for every platform and the full background.