EAA compliance for Squarespace: WCAG 2.1 AA checklist & fixes

What the EAA actually requires from a Squarespace site

On Squarespace the EAA obligation is shaped by template family and section configuration, since 7.1 improved the baseline but the visual choices you make still decide conformance. EN 301 549 forces you to address low-contrast color palettes (especially gray-on-gray footers and captions), image blocks shipped without alt text, and accordion or gallery blocks that are mouse-only on older template families. Because you cannot edit the underlying template markup, the requirement is met through Site Styles, per-block settings, and Code Injection rather than source changes.

Squarespace is favoured by small businesses, restaurants, creators, and solo professionals, so most in-scope sites are consumer-facing services run by microenterprises that may qualify for the EAA services exemption if they are under 10 employees and €2M turnover. Where the exemption does not apply, or where Squarespace Commerce is selling products, the realistic exposure is a fixed national fine at the lower end rather than a turnover-percentage penalty. The main practical risk is a small operator being caught unaware because they assumed the platform made them compliant automatically.

Fixes are made by the site owner or their designer directly in the Squarespace editor: use the built-in Site Styles contrast checker on every section background, set alt text per image block, and add global focus styles through Code Injection. Where an older template family has mouse-only accordions, switching to a newer 7.1 template family resolves it. This is typically a few hours of self-service work, with a third-party scan needed afterwards because the built-in checker does not validate keyboard operability.

Top WCAG failures we see on Squarespace sites

Across hundreds of Squarespace scans, the same handful of issues show up over and over. None of them require ripping the theme apart — most are fixable in a few hours by someone comfortable in the platform's editor or template files.

• Color palettes failing 4.5:1

  Many templates default to gray-on-gray text, especially in footers and small caption text.

  1.4.3 — Level AA

• Image blocks without alt text

  Image alt is set per block; bulk uploads usually skip it.

  1.1.1 — Level A

• Accordion blocks not keyboard-accessible in some templates

  Older templates use mouse-only handlers. Switching template family can fix this.

  2.1.1 — Level A

Concrete code fixes for Squarespace

Below are copy-paste fixes for the most common Squarespace issues. They assume you have access to your theme code or the platform's custom-code injection panel. If you cannot edit code directly, share these snippets with whoever maintains the site — every one of them is a ten-minute change.

// Use the built-in contrast checker on text colors.
// Aim for 4.5:1 (normal text), 3:1 (large text/UI).

Tools and plugins worth installing first

• Built-in Squarespace Site Styles contrast hint

• Code Injection for global focus styles

How to scan a Squarespace site without missing anything

Automated scanners catch about 30–40% of WCAG issues; the rest need manual review. The good news is that the 30–40% includes the most expensive issues to remediate after the fact, so an automated scan is the cheapest way to get unstuck. Run one before you change a line of theme code.

• Use the Squarespace preview link to scan; published-only changes can lag.