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StoreA11y

Shopify · 1.4.4 Resize Text (Level AA)

Zoom is disabled on mobile on Shopify

The viewport meta tag disables pinch-to-zoom with user-scalable=no or a maximum-scale below 5. A shopper with low vision cannot enlarge the text to read a price or a size chart on their phone. It is one line in the theme and it is a guaranteed automated failure.

Which WCAG criterion this fails

  • Does not meet 1.4.4 Resize Text (Level AA)

How to fix it on Shopify

Everything below is done from Online Store > Themes > Edit code. Take a copy of the theme before editing.

  1. Open layout/theme.liquid and find the <meta name="viewport"> tag in the <head>.
  2. Remove user-scalable=no and any maximum-scale below 5.
  3. The correct tag is: <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">.
  4. If a "prevent zoom on input focus" hack was the reason, fix it properly instead by making form inputs at least 16px on mobile — iOS only auto-zooms below 16px.

Where this usually lives

layout/theme.liquid <head>, layout/password.liquid

Paths given for Dawn and its derivatives (Sense, Craft, Refresh, Studio). A heavily customised theme may differ; the CSS selector in your scan report points at the exact element.

Code

<!-- Wrong -->
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, maximum-scale=1, user-scalable=no">

<!-- Right -->
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">

/* Stops iOS zooming on focus without blocking pinch-zoom */
input, select, textarea { font-size: 16px; }

How to confirm it is fixed

Re-run the scan. This rule should drop out of the findings entirely. If the instance count falls but does not reach zero, the same defect exists in another template — product cards and quick-view modals are the usual second home for it.

Effort: low. Rule id: meta-viewport (axe-core).