Theme check
Is Kale accessible?
No automated check can say that a theme is accessible. Here is what one found: on October 27, 2026, our check of Kale 2.9 on its WordPress.org preview found 4 accessibility problems in the theme's own parts (its header, menus, footer and layout), 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Form fields without a label | Critical | 1 | 4.1.2 | Yes |
| Links shown only by colour | Serious | 1 | 1.4.1 | Yes |
| Links with no text | Serious | 1 | 2.4.4 | Yes |
| Content outside the page regions | Moderate | 1 | Best practice | No, needs a person |
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. Kale may have changed since October 27, 2026.
How to fix them
- Form fields without a label. Give every field a visible <label>. Fixlight uses the placeholder as a label when there is one; check your form plugin's settings for the rest.
- Links shown only by colour. Turn on "Underline links in text" on the Fixes screen, or underline links in your theme's settings.
- 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.
- 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.
What the free Fixlight plugin does here
Of these, the free plugin fixes form fields without a label, links shown only by colour, links with no text on its own, in the HTML the site sends, with no widget. The rest (content outside the page regions) need a change in the theme's settings or code.
About Kale
- By lyrathemes, 7,000+ active installs on WordPress.org (number 311 by installs when we checked).
- Version checked: 2.9. Preview: wp-themes.com/kale/.
- Theme author? If you've fixed these, write to fixlight@fernwaylabs.com and we'll check again.