Theme check
Is Pubnews accessible?
No automated check can say that a theme is accessible. Here is what one found: on October 28, 2026, our check of Pubnews 1.0.12 on its WordPress.org preview found 67 accessibility problems in the theme's own parts (its header, menus, footer and layout), 38 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buttons with no text | Critical | 1 | 4.1.2 | Yes |
| Text with too little contrast | Serious | 28 | 1.4.3 | No, needs a person |
| Links with no text | Serious | 9 | 2.4.4 | Yes |
| Content outside the page regions | Moderate | 25 | Best practice | No, needs a person |
| ARIA role should be appropriate for the element | Minor | 4 | 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. Pubnews may have changed since October 28, 2026.
How to fix them
- Buttons with no text. Fixlight names common icon buttons automatically. For the rest, add an aria-label that says what the button does.
- 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.
- 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.
- ARIA role should be appropriate for the element.
What the free Fixlight plugin does here
Of these, the free plugin fixes buttons with no text, links with no text on its own, in the HTML the site sends, with no widget. The rest (text with too little contrast, content outside the page regions, aria role should be appropriate for the element) need a change in the theme's settings or code.
About Pubnews
- By blazethemes, 1,000+ active installs on WordPress.org (number 381 by installs when we checked).
- Version checked: 1.0.12. Preview: wp-themes.com/pubnews/.
- Theme author? If you've fixed these, write to fixlight@fernwaylabs.com and we'll check again.