Theme check
Is Ashe accessible?
No automated check can say that a theme is accessible. Here is what one found: on October 25, 2026, our check of Ashe 2.275 on its WordPress.org preview found 91 accessibility problems in the theme's own parts (its header, menus, footer and layout), 53 of them serious or critical.
We make Fixlight, a free WordPress plugin that fixes some of these problems, so we're not neutral. The measurements below are what our check found; anyone can repeat it with the same method.
What the check found
| Problem | Impact | Times | WCAG | Free Fixlight plugin fixes it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Text with too little contrast | Serious | 32 | 1.4.3 | No, needs a person |
| Links with no text | Serious | 15 | 2.4.4 | Yes |
| Buttons and links too small to tap | Serious | 6 | 2.5.8 | No, needs a person |
| Content outside the page regions | Moderate | 37 | Best practice | No, needs a person |
| Page has no main content region | Moderate | 1 | Best practice | No, needs a person |
The check also found 7 problems inside the sample posts themselves (content outside the page regions). Those come from WordPress.org's sample content, which is the same for every theme, so they're not counted here.
How we checked: One page, the theme's home page on WordPress.org's preview (wp-themes.com), which shows the same sample posts for every theme. It was loaded in a real browser and checked with axe-core's WCAG 2.2 A and AA rules and its best practices. Problems inside the sample posts are not counted against the theme, except colour problems its styling causes. Automated checks find many problems, but not all of them. Your site, with your own content, settings and plugins, will give different results. Ashe may have changed since October 25, 2026.
How to fix them
- Text with too little contrast. Make the text darker or the background lighter until the contrast ratio is at least 4.5:1 (3:1 for large text). Change it in your theme's colour settings so it applies everywhere.
- Links with no text. Fixlight names social and common icon links automatically. For the rest, add alt text to the image inside the link or an aria-label to the link.
- Buttons and links too small to tap. Make icons and small links at least 24 by 24 pixels, or leave more space around them.
- Content outside the page regions. This usually comes from the theme or a page builder section. Put page content inside the main area, or ask your theme developer to add header, main and footer regions.
- Page has no main content region. Use a page template that wraps the content in a <main> element. Blank page builder templates often leave it out.
What the free Fixlight plugin does here
Of these, the free plugin fixes links with no text on its own, in the HTML the site sends, with no widget. The rest (text with too little contrast, buttons and links too small to tap, content outside the page regions, page has no main content region) need a change in the theme's settings or code.
About Ashe
- By WP Royal, 30,000+ active installs on WordPress.org (number 64 by installs when we checked).
- Version checked: 2.275. Preview: wp-themes.com/ashe/.
- Theme author? If you've fixed these, write to fixlight@fernwaylabs.com and we'll check again.