Accessibility
Buttons have readable labels
a11y.button-name
Why this matters
A button with no readable label is announced to a screen reader as nothing more than 'button'. This usually happens when the button contains only an icon. If the unlabelled one is a menu toggle or an Add to Basket, the site becomes unusable rather than merely awkward.
Who fixes it
You can, usually
Roughly how long
Minutes
Care needed
Low risk to change
How to fix it
Put text inside the button, or add aria-label describing the action.
On your platform
WordPress
The icon-only ones are the culprits — the search toggle, the mobile menu button, the cart icon. Those come from the theme rather than from a page, so it is a `header.php` or block-template change, and a child theme if you want it to survive an update.
Shopify
Cart, search and menu toggles in the theme's header section. Online Store → Themes → Edit code, then the header section — most current Shopify themes label these already, so an unlabelled one points at an older or heavily customised theme.
Drupal
In the theme's template for that region. Drupal core's own form buttons carry values, so this is nearly always a custom template or a JavaScript-added control.
Joomla
The template's index.php or a module — search and menu toggles are the usual two. Add text inside the button and hide it visually rather than leaving the icon alone.
How we score it
Failing this check takes up to 10 points off your accessibility score. It is a fact about your site rather than a measurement, so it reads the same on every scan until you change something.
Does your site pass this one?
This check runs on every scan, along with the other 106. Free, no account, and you see the evidence for each result.
Check my siteOther accessibility checks
- Accessibility check completedThe accessibility pass runs inside a real browser, and a few things can stop it: a content security policy that blocks our script, or a page that never finishes loading. When that happens the accessibility section is marked unchecked rather than passed, because finding no problems and being unable to look are not the same result.
- Form fields are labelledA form field without a label gives a screen reader user no indication of what to type into it. Placeholder text is not a substitute — it vanishes the moment somebody starts typing. On a contact or checkout form this is the difference between an enquiry and a visitor who leaves.
- Headings run in orderScreen reader users navigate by jumping between headings. When levels are skipped, that outline stops matching the page and becomes confusing to move through.
- Images have descriptions for screen readersSomeone using a screen reader hears nothing where these images are. If any of them are product photos, logos or buttons, that part of the page simply does not exist for them.
- Links have readable textA screen reader announces these as just "link", with nothing to say where they go. Icon-only links, such as social media buttons, are the usual cause.
- Page declares its languageScreen readers pick their pronunciation from this. Without it, English can be read aloud with the wrong accent and rhythm, which is hard to follow.