How to fix presentation role conflict on BigCommerce
Remove conflicting ARIA attributes (global ARIA properties and tabindex) from any element that has been marked as purely presentational with role="presentation" or role="none".
Steps for BigCommerce
- In your BigCommerce admin, go to Storefront → My Themes → click Customize on your active theme → Advanced → Edit Theme Files.
- Search for role="presentation" or role="none" across your Handlebars (.html) and JavaScript files using the editor's search.
- Open each flagged template (e.g. templates/layout/base.html, templates/components/*.html) and remove conflicting ARIA attributes or tabindex from the offending element.
- Save changes and use the Preview function to test. Run axe DevTools in Chrome against the preview URL to confirm the fix.
- Publish the theme update from the theme editor when satisfied.
What is presentation role conflict?
When an HTML element is given `role="presentation"` or `role="none"`, it signals to screen readers: "ignore this element — it carries no meaning, it's only here for visual layout." However, if that same element also carries global ARIA attributes (like `aria-label`, `aria-describedby`, `aria-hidden`, etc.) or a `tabindex`, a direct conflict is created. The browser and screen reader receive two contradictory instructions at once: "treat this as meaningless" and "here's meaningful information about it." Different screen readers resolve this conflict differently — some honour the role and ignore the ARIA, others do the opposite — leading to unpredictable and broken experiences for assistive-technology users.
Screen reader users — including many shoppers who are blind or have low vision — may hear garbled, repeated, or missing announcements when navigating your store if this conflict exists on interactive or decorative elements. This directly harms conversions by making it harder to browse products, read descriptions, or complete checkout. Under WCAG 2.1 Success Criteria 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value), this is a recognized failure that can create legal exposure under accessibility laws such as the ADA (US), EN 301 549 (EU), and the Equality Act (UK). Resolving it also improves your overall accessibility audit score, which is increasingly scrutinized in enterprise purchasing decisions and legal compliance reviews.
See the complete Presentation role conflict guide for every platform and the full background.
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