How to fix nested interactive on BigCommerce

Steps for BigCommerce

1. In your BigCommerce admin, go to Storefront → Themes → your active theme → Advanced → Edit Theme Files (Stencil CLI or Page Builder).
2. Open the Handlebars template file for the affected component — common files: templates/components/products/card.html, templates/components/cart/item.html, templates/layout/base.html.
3. Search for nested interactive patterns and refactor: replace the inner or outer interactive tag with a non-interactive `<span>` or `<div>`, keeping only one focusable control per action.
4. Save and push the updated theme. Preview the storefront and test with Tab-key navigation to confirm only one interactive element is focused per action.

What is nested interactive?

WCAG Success Criterion 4.1.2 requires that every user interface component has a name, role, and value that assistive technologies (like screen readers) can reliably understand. A "nested interactive" violation occurs when one interactive element — such as a `<button>`, `<a>`, `<select>`, or `<input>` — is placed inside another interactive element in the HTML. For example, putting a `<button>` inside an `<a>` tag, or an `<a>` link inside a `<button>`. HTML forbids this nesting, browsers handle it inconsistently, and screen readers and keyboard navigation can behave unpredictably. Adding `tabindex="-1"` or `aria-hidden="true"` to the inner element does NOT reliably hide it from assistive technology — screen readers can still discover and announce it, creating a confusing or broken experience.

Keyboard-only users and screen-reader users (a significant and legally protected segment of shoppers) can get stuck, confused, or blocked from completing a purchase when interactive controls are nested. In many jurisdictions — including the US (ADA), EU (EN 301 549), and UK (Equality Act) — inaccessible ecommerce stores face real legal exposure including complaints, audits, and lawsuits. Beyond legal risk, a broken checkout button or unclickable product link directly costs you conversions and revenue. Google also uses accessibility signals as a quality indicator, so fixing these issues can modestly improve crawlability and organic rankings over time.

See the complete Nested interactive guide for every platform and the full background.