WCAG 2.1 AA Compliant Base Theme

Created on 2 March 2025, about 1 month ago

Problem/Motivation

Federal systems require WCAG 2.1 AA and Section 508 compliance. Drupal 11 needs an accessibility-first theme as part of the Secure Drupal recipe to ensure sites meet these standards without additional customization.

Steps to reproduce

Install Drupal 11 with default theme
Run accessibility tests (WAVE, Axe)
Note common failures in contrast, ARIA, and keyboard navigation
Document remediation steps required

Proposed resolution

Develop a Recipe-compatible WCAG 2.1 AA compliant theme:

USWDS design system implementation
Semantic HTML structure
Comprehensive ARIA support
Accessible color schemes
Keyboard navigation
Built-in accessibility testing

Remaining tasks

Create base theme following USWDS guidelines
Implement Recipe compatibility
Build accessible component library
Develop testing tools
Create documentation

User interface changes

New accessible theme
Accessibility settings controls
Testing tools in theme configuration

API changes

Theme hook implementations
Accessibility testing APIs
Recipe theme integration

Data model changes

Accessibility configuration storage
User preference settings

🌱 Plan

Status

Needs work

Component

Documentation

Created by

🇺🇸United States flux423 Portland, Maine

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Comments & Activities

Issue created by @flux423
Comment about 1 month ago →
🇺🇸United States flux423 Portland, Maine
Comment 10 days ago →
🇺🇸United States sarahlorenzen Bend, OR
Also use the Govt.'s Automated testing tool, ANDI, that us Trusted Testers have access too and have been certified on - it's the preferred and most widely accepted tool for helping to create the remediation list for Gov't sites. It catches different items than WAVE or AXE as well.

ANDI can be downloaded here: https://www.section508.gov/test/web-software/

Happy to help on this.

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