Theme check
Is Riverbank accessible?
No automated check can say that a theme is accessible. Here is what one found: on October 26, 2026, our check of Riverbank 1.0.17 on its WordPress.org preview found 5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Images without alt text | Critical | 3 | 1.1.1 | Yes |
| Heading levels skip | Moderate | 1 | 1.3.1 | No, needs a person |
| Page regions that cannot be told apart | 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. Riverbank may have changed since October 26, 2026.
How to fix them
- Images without alt text. Describe what the image shows in one short sentence. Use the Images screen to add alt text in bulk, or mark purely decorative images as decorative.
- 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.
What the free Fixlight plugin does here
Of these, the free plugin fixes images without alt text on its own, in the HTML the site sends, with no widget. The rest (heading levels skip, page regions that cannot be told apart) need a change in the theme's settings or code.
About Riverbank
- By Themeisle, 3,000+ active installs on WordPress.org (number 266 by installs when we checked).
- Version checked: 1.0.17. Preview: wp-themes.com/riverbank/.
- Theme author? If you've fixed these, write to fixlight@fernwaylabs.com and we'll check again.