Squarespace is one of the most popular website builders for small businesses, creatives, and entrepreneurs. It produces clean, modern websites without requiring you to write code. But when it comes to accessibility, Squarespace gives you a mixed bag: some things are handled well out of the box, some things you can fix yourself, and some things are genuinely beyond your control as a site owner.

This guide gives you an honest assessment. We will cover what Squarespace gets right, where it falls short, and — most importantly — everything you can do to make your Squarespace site as accessible as possible within the platform’s constraints.

What Squarespace Gets Right

Credit where it is due. Squarespace has made meaningful progress on accessibility in recent years, and its newer templates handle several important things automatically.

Semantic HTML Structure

Squarespace generates proper semantic HTML for most content. This means that headings are actual heading elements, lists are actual list elements, and navigation is wrapped in proper navigation landmarks. This matters because screen readers use these HTML elements to help users understand and navigate the page structure.

You do not need to do anything to get this benefit — it happens automatically when you use Squarespace’s built-in content blocks.

Responsive Design

All current Squarespace templates are fully responsive, meaning they adapt to different screen sizes. This is important for accessibility because many users with low vision zoom in significantly or use their browser on a smaller window. A responsive design ensures content reflows properly instead of being cut off or requiring horizontal scrolling.

Built-in Form Accessibility

Squarespace’s native form blocks include proper labels for form fields and basic keyboard navigation. While not perfect (we will cover limitations later), the default forms are more accessible than many third-party form alternatives.

Focus Indicators

Modern Squarespace templates include visible focus indicators — the outline that appears around buttons, links, and form fields when you navigate with the Tab key. This is critical for keyboard users who need to see where they are on the page.

ARIA Landmarks

Squarespace automatically adds ARIA landmark roles to major page sections (header, main content, footer, navigation). Screen reader users rely on these landmarks to jump between sections of a page quickly.

Where Squarespace Falls Short

No platform is perfect, and Squarespace has some real accessibility limitations that you should be aware of.

Limited Control Over HTML Output

Because Squarespace is a closed platform, you cannot modify the underlying HTML directly. If a template generates an accessibility issue in its code, you typically cannot fix it. You are limited to the options available in the Squarespace editor.

This is the fundamental tradeoff of using a managed platform. You get ease of use at the cost of control.

Older Templates Have More Issues

Squarespace has two main template systems: version 7.0 (the older system with named templates like Brine, Bedford, Pacific) and version 7.1 (the newer system with a single flexible template). Version 7.1 is significantly more accessible than 7.0.

If you are still on a 7.0 template, some of them lack skip navigation links, have inconsistent heading structures, and may have keyboard navigation issues in their built-in galleries and menus.

If you have the option to migrate to 7.1, doing so is one of the single best things you can do for your site’s accessibility.

Gallery and Slideshow Accessibility

Image galleries and slideshows in Squarespace can be problematic. Some gallery layouts do not properly announce image changes to screen readers. Lightbox views (when you click an image and it opens larger) sometimes trap keyboard focus, meaning a keyboard user can open the lightbox but cannot close it or navigate away without using a mouse.

Custom Code Blocks Are Your Responsibility

If you have added custom code blocks (HTML, CSS, or JavaScript) to your Squarespace site, the accessibility of that code is entirely your responsibility. Squarespace cannot make custom code accessible automatically.

Third-Party Embeds

Anything you embed from a third-party service — Instagram feeds, Google Maps, booking widgets, email signup forms — brings that service’s accessibility (or lack thereof) into your site. Squarespace has no control over the accessibility of embedded content.

Mobile Navigation

On mobile devices, Squarespace uses a hamburger menu (the three horizontal lines). While the current implementation is reasonably accessible, some older templates had hamburger menus that were not properly labeled for screen readers or did not trap focus correctly when open.

What You Can Fix: A Complete Action Plan

Now for the practical part. Here is everything within your control as a Squarespace site owner, organized by impact.

Add Alt Text to Every Image

This is the single most impactful thing you can do. Every image on your Squarespace site should have descriptive alt text.

How to add alt text:

1. In the Squarespace editor, click on any image.
2. Click the pencil icon (or double-click the image) to open image settings.
3. Find the Alt Text or Image Description field.
4. Write a concise description of what the image shows.

For different image types:

• Product photos: Describe the product. “Navy blue cotton t-shirt with crew neck, shown on a wooden hanger.”
• Team photos: Describe the person. “Sarah Chen, head of customer success, smiling in the company office.”
• Portfolio images: Describe the work. “Modern kitchen renovation with white marble countertops and brass fixtures.”
• Decorative images: If an image is purely decorative and adds no information (like an abstract background pattern), you can leave the alt text empty or write a single space. A screen reader will skip it.

For gallery blocks:

Click on each individual image within the gallery to access its alt text field. This is tedious for large galleries, but it matters. If you have a portfolio with 50 images and none have alt text, that is 50 pieces of content that blind users cannot access.

Fix Your Heading Structure

Headings need to follow a logical hierarchy. On most Squarespace pages, the page title is your H1 (Squarespace handles this automatically). Your job is to make sure the headings within your content follow a proper order.

The rules are simple:

• Each page should have only one H1 (the page title — Squarespace usually handles this).
• Use H2 for main sections of your page content.
• Use H3 for subsections within an H2 section.
• Never skip a level. Do not jump from H2 to H4.
• Never use headings just to make text look bigger. Use heading styles for actual headings only.

How to set heading levels in Squarespace:

1. Select a text block.
2. Highlight the heading text.
3. Use the text formatting toolbar to select the correct heading level (Heading 2, Heading 3, etc.).

A common mistake: Using “Heading 1” styling throughout your page because it looks good. This creates a flat, meaningless heading structure. Use H2 for main sections and H3 for subsections within those sections.

Ensure Sufficient Color Contrast

Squarespace gives you control over your site’s colors, and you need to use that control responsibly.

How to check and fix contrast:

1. Visit the WebAIM Contrast Checker at webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker.
2. Enter your text color and background color.
3. WCAG requires a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text.
4. If your contrast fails, adjust your colors in Design > Site Styles or in individual block settings.

Areas to check:

• Body text against the page background
• Navigation text against the header background
• Button text against the button background
• Text on banner images or colored sections
• Footer text against the footer background
• Link text (can users distinguish links from surrounding text?)

Squarespace-specific tip: When using banner blocks or sections with background images, add a color overlay to ensure text remains readable. In the section settings, you can adjust the overlay opacity to darken or lighten the background behind text.

Add Captions and Transcripts to Videos

If you have videos on your Squarespace site, they need captions for deaf and hard-of-hearing users.

For YouTube or Vimeo embeds:

• Add captions directly on YouTube or Vimeo (not in Squarespace).
• YouTube offers auto-generated captions that you can review and edit.
• Vimeo allows you to upload caption files.
• See our detailed guide on video accessibility for step-by-step instructions.

For background videos:

Squarespace allows you to use videos as section backgrounds. These should not contain any essential information (they are purely decorative), so captions are not needed. However, make sure the video does not contain flashing content that could trigger seizures — specifically, no more than three flashes per second.

Write Descriptive Link Text

Every link on your site should make sense when read on its own. Screen reader users often navigate by pulling up a list of all links on a page. If your links all say “Learn More” or “Click Here,” that list is useless.

Fix in Squarespace:

1. Select the linked text in the text editor.
2. Replace generic text with descriptive text.

Examples:

• Change “Click here” to “View our portfolio of residential projects”
• Change “Learn more” to “Read about our design process”
• Change “Read more” to “Read the full article about kitchen renovation trends”

For button blocks, click the button in the editor and change its label text to something descriptive.

Make Your Navigation Accessible

Your site’s navigation menu is critical for accessibility. Here is what you can control:

Keep it simple: Complex mega-menus with many nested levels are harder for keyboard and screen reader users. Aim for a flat or shallow navigation structure. If you have many pages, organize them into logical folders with clear names.

Use descriptive labels: Menu items should clearly describe what the user will find. “Services” is better than “What We Do.” “Contact Us” is better than “Get in Touch.”

Limit the number of items: If your navigation has 15 or more top-level items, keyboard users must tab through all of them to reach your page content. Consider consolidating pages or using a simpler structure with dropdown categories.

Format Content for Readability

Accessibility is not just about screen readers. People with cognitive disabilities, reading disabilities, and attention difficulties benefit from well-formatted content.

• Use short paragraphs (3-4 sentences maximum).
• Use bullet points and numbered lists for sequences or groups of items.
• Use meaningful subheadings to break up long pages.
• Avoid walls of text.
• Write in plain language. If your audience is general consumers, aim for an 8th-grade reading level.

Provide Text Alternatives for Visual Content

If you use infographics, charts, diagrams, or other visual content that conveys information, provide a text alternative. This could be:

• Detailed alt text on the image
• A text summary below the image
• A link to a text version of the content

For example, if you have an infographic about your company’s process, include a text description of each step below the infographic.

What You Cannot Fix (and What to Do About It)

Some accessibility issues in Squarespace are baked into the platform and are beyond your control as a site owner. Here is an honest look.

Template-Level Code Issues

If your Squarespace template has accessibility bugs in its generated code — like missing ARIA attributes on interactive elements or improper focus management in modals — you cannot fix these. You can report them to Squarespace support, and they do address platform-level issues over time, but there is no timeline guarantee.

Gallery Keyboard Traps

If a gallery lightbox traps keyboard focus (the user can open it but cannot close it with the Escape key or navigate away), you have two options: disable the lightbox feature and link images to their own pages instead, or avoid using that particular gallery layout.

Third-Party Widget Accessibility

If you use booking widgets, chat widgets, social media feeds, or other embedded tools, their accessibility is up to those third-party providers. Before adding any widget to your site, test it with keyboard navigation. If it fails, look for a more accessible alternative or do not use it.

What to Do When You Hit a Wall

If you discover an accessibility issue you cannot fix:

1. Document it. Note what the issue is and that it is a platform limitation.
2. Report it to Squarespace. They have a feedback system and do prioritize accessibility improvements.
3. Provide a workaround. If a feature on your site is inaccessible, provide an alternative way for users to get the same information or complete the same task. A phone number or email address is often the simplest workaround.
4. Mention it in your accessibility statement. If you have an accessibility page on your site, noting known limitations and workarounds demonstrates good faith.

Creating an Accessibility Statement

Add a page to your Squarespace site (linked from your footer) that includes:

• Your commitment to making your site accessible
• The standard you are working toward (WCAG 2.1 Level AA)
• Known limitations and what you are doing about them
• How users can contact you if they encounter a barrier
• An alternative way to access your services (phone, email, in-person)

This page does not need to be long. A few honest paragraphs are better than a lengthy legal document that no one reads.

Your Squarespace Accessibility Checklist

Use this checklist to work through your site:

• All images have descriptive alt text
• Headings follow a logical H1 through H6 order
• Color contrast meets 4.5:1 for normal text
• All links have descriptive text (no “click here”)
• Videos have captions
• Navigation is simple and clearly labeled
• Content is formatted for readability
• Forms have visible labels
• An accessibility statement is published
• A contact alternative (phone/email) is available on every page

Start at the top and work your way down. Each item you complete makes your site more accessible.

The Reality of Accessibility on Squarespace

Squarespace will not give you a perfectly accessible site out of the box, and it will not give you the tools to fix everything. That is the honest truth.

But by taking the actions outlined in this guide, you can address the majority of the issues that affect real users and that trigger legal complaints. You can bring your Squarespace site to a level where it is usable by the vast majority of people with disabilities, even if some platform-level issues remain.

That is worth doing. It is good for your users, good for your business, and the right thing to do.

We’re building a simple accessibility checker for non-developers — no DevTools, no jargon. Join our waitlist to get early access.