Accessibility widget for BigCommerce

A BigCommerce storefront has a lot of moving parts: product pages, category grids, cart, and checkout. Every one of those is a place where a shopper with a visual or motor difficulty can get stuck. ClearPath gives them controls to adjust the store to how they shop.

You do not need to edit your Stencil theme to add it. BigCommerce Script Manager can inject the ClearPath script tag into every storefront page, so the widget is available from the homepage through to checkout.

How to add ClearPath to BigCommerce

  1. From your BigCommerce control panel, go to Storefront, then Script Manager.
  2. Click Create a Script and give it a name such as ClearPath Accessibility Widget.
  3. Set Location to Footer and Select pages where script will be added to All pages.
  4. Choose the Script type of Script, paste the ClearPath snippet into the contents box, then save.

Where BigCommerce storefronts usually fail

  • Stencil's faceted search sidebar on category pages often updates product grids via AJAX without announcing the change, so screen reader users filtering by size or color get no indication the results have refreshed.
  • The BigCommerce Page Builder lets merchants drag in widgets like image banners and countdown timers, and it's common for these to ship without alt text fields exposed or with heading levels that jump from H1 straight to H4 depending on which widget template was used.
  • Native checkout steps (shipping, payment, review) rely on custom form validation, and error messages frequently appear as color-only cues or small red text near the field without being tied to the input via aria-describedby, so keyboard and screen reader users can't tell which field failed.
  • Quick View modals on product listing pages trap mouse users in a popup that often lacks a visible focus outline and doesn't return focus to the triggering product card when closed, which strands keyboard users after they dismiss it.

Why BigCommerce sites choose ClearPath

  • Script Manager loads ClearPath across your whole store, including product and category pages, without theme edits.
  • The widget survives BigCommerce theme updates because it lives in Script Manager, not in your Stencil files.
  • Shoppers can switch among 14 languages, which is useful for stores that sell across regions.
  • Per-site analytics tell you which accessibility tools shoppers use most on your store.

Questions

Will the widget appear during checkout?

Script Manager scripts set to All pages run across the storefront. Note that BigCommerce's optimized one-page checkout is more restricted, so test the flow and confirm the widget behaves as you expect on your plan.

Do I need a developer to install this?

No. Script Manager is a point-and-click panel in your control panel, so you paste one snippet and save. No theme code or app install is required.

Does ClearPath make my BigCommerce store legally compliant?

No. ClearPath adds visitor-facing controls and generates an accessibility statement from a live scan of your store, which helps real shoppers and shows good faith effort. But it runs on top of your Stencil theme and Page Builder output rather than rewriting it, so markup problems like missing alt text on banner widgets or unlabeled checkout errors stay exactly as they are in your templates. No widget, on BigCommerce or any other platform, can make a site compliant by itself.