Theme check
Is Nature21 accessible?
No automated check can say that a theme is accessible. Here is what one found: on October 28, 2026, our check of Nature21 2.2 on its WordPress.org preview found 14 accessibility problems in the theme's own parts (its header, menus, footer and layout), 9 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 | 5 | 1.4.3 | No, needs a person |
| Lists with the wrong kind of items | Serious | 3 | Best practice | No, needs a person |
| Links with no text | Serious | 1 | 2.4.4 | Yes |
| Heading levels skip | Moderate | 3 | 1.3.1 | No, needs a person |
| Page regions that cannot be told apart | Moderate | 1 | Best practice | No, needs a person |
| Page has no main heading | Moderate | 1 | 1.3.1 | 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. Nature21 may have changed since October 28, 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.
- Lists with the wrong kind of items. A <ul> or <ol> should contain only <li> items.
- 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.
- Heading levels skip. Choose heading levels by structure, not by size: one level 1 for the page title, level 2 for sections, level 3 inside them. Change the size with styling instead.
- Page regions that cannot be told apart. When two regions of the same kind exist (two navigation menus, for example), give each a different aria-label.
- Page has no main heading. Make sure the page title is a level 1 heading. Most themes do this; page builders sometimes do not.
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, lists with the wrong kind of items, heading levels skip, page regions that cannot be told apart, page has no main heading) need a change in the theme's settings or code.
About Nature21
- By Sonal S Sinha, 500+ active installs on WordPress.org (number 343 by installs when we checked).
- Version checked: 2.2. Preview: wp-themes.com/nature21/.
- Theme author? If you've fixed these, write to fixlight@fernwaylabs.com and we'll check again.