Add WCAG 2.1 AA compliant starter sites to Neve template library

Impact: 75 · Confidence: 90 · Complexity: 60

Description

1. Problem: Web developers and agencies operating under strict accessibility regulations (e.g. EU EN 301 549 / WCAG requirements) need turnkey starter sites that are pre-certified for WCAG compliance, avoiding extensive manual remediation of contrast, ARIA attributes, and keyboard navigation post-import.
2. Desired Behavior: Provide starter templates in the Neve starter site library that are audited and certified WCAG 2.1 AA compliant out of the box, with an accessible layout filter in the importer interface.
3. Acceptance Criteria:

• Include an 'Accessibility / WCAG Ready' filter or tag in the Starter Sites importer.
• Ensure all design elements, color palettes, typography contrast, heading hierarchies, and navigation menus in designated starter sites pass WCAG 2.1 AA automated and keyboard navigation checks.
• Ensure included builder/block components inside these templates produce valid accessibility markup without duplicate IDs or missing ARIA roles.

Customer Context

The customer is a professional WordPress developer using Neve Pro (Business plan) in Europe. Due to tightening legal regulations, they need WCAG-compliant starter templates to deploy accessible client sites directly without performing manual accessibility fixes on template content.

Root Cause Analysis

1. WCAG Starter Sites: Customers building sites in regions with mandatory digital accessibility laws (such as EU EN 301 549) require turnkey, WCAG 2.1 AA compliant starter templates. Existing starter templates are designed primarily for visual appeal rather than strict WCAG compliance, requiring manual remediation after import.
2. Legacy Elementor Templates: Starter site assets created for earlier versions of Elementor persist in the library without periodic refactoring, leading to stale container structures and deprecation warnings when edited in updated Elementor builds.
3. Responsive Duplicate DOM IDs: Neve's Header Footer Grid builder evaluates both desktop and mobile component instances in the DOM and uses a static ID string (footer-menu) in template rendering rather than dynamically suffixing responsive instances.

Reasoning

The customer raised three distinct filable requests in this conversation:

1. A request for WCAG 2.1 AA compliant starter sites/templates in Neve to meet increasingly strict accessibility regulations (e.g., EU EN 301 549). This is an actionable new feature request (new_feature_request).
2. A request regarding older Elementor starter templates, pointing out that many rely on legacy Elementor structures and asking for them to be updated to current Elementor version standards. This can be addressed by updating existing starter site assets (suggest_improvement).
3. An original bug report where the Footer Menu component in Header Footer Grid generates duplicate id="footer-menu" across desktop and mobile layouts, failing WCAG 4.1.2. This is already tracked under GitHub issue Codeinwp/neve#4557 (already_exists_github).

The top-level decision reflects the strongest new request (new_feature_request). A fourth mention about general Elementor compatibility is too vague for a standalone issue without specific block/reproduction details.

Source: HelpScout #3405021142
Generated by feature-request-triage workflow (ID: feature-request-triage_6a75acd02d4934.59392777)

Start by reviewing the Starter Sites importer and the designated starter site assets, then inspect how builder and block components render responsive instances. Define which templates receive the WCAG 2.1 AA designation and validate their contrast, headings, keyboard navigation, ARIA markup, and duplicate IDs. Done means the importer exposes an accessibility filter and the selected sites pass the stated checks.