Case Study: Bates Nut Farm Accessibility Overhaul

When Bates Nut Farm reached out to Bryt Designs, they needed accessibility help fast. Their Shopify store at batesnutfarm.biz scored a 4.9 out of 10 on a WAVE accessibility audit. After a focused round of audits, testing and theme improvements, that score climbed to 9.5 out of 10, backed by WCAG 2.2 compliance reporting the team can rely on going forward.

Here’s how we got there, and why accessibility deserves a spot on every online store’s priority list.

What is website accessibility?

Website accessibility means building a site that everyone can use, including people with visual, hearing, motor or cognitive disabilities. That includes shoppers who rely on screen readers, navigate by keyboard instead of a mouse, use magnification, or need clear contrast to read text.

The standard most businesses measure against is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), published by the W3C. The current version, WCAG 2.2, organizes its requirements around four principles: content should be perceivable, operable, understandable and robust. In practice, that covers things like:

• Descriptive alt text on product and lifestyle images
• Sufficient color contrast between text and backgrounds
• Full keyboard navigation, with visible focus indicators
• Properly labeled form fields, buttons and links
• A logical heading structure screen readers can follow
• Focused elements that aren’t hidden behind sticky headers or pop-ups, one of the newer WCAG 2.2 criteria

Accessibility isn’t just a legal checkbox. An accessible store is easier for every customer to shop, and it opens your business to the millions of people who would otherwise hit a wall at checkout.

Why California businesses are facing a surge of accessibility lawsuits

Website accessibility lawsuits have roughly doubled in five years, and California sits at the center of that trend. According to AudioEye’s 2026 litigation analysis, total U.S. filings grew from about 12,980 in 2020 to more than 26,000 in 2025, with nearly 8 in 10 cases now filed in state courts rather than federal court.

The main driver in California is the Unruh Civil Rights Act. The federal ADA doesn’t award money damages to private plaintiffs, but Unruh sets a minimum of $4,000 in statutory damages per violation, plus attorney’s fees. Because a single inaccessible website can contain multiple barriers, exposure adds up quickly, before legal defense costs even enter the picture.

That financial incentive has changed how claims are filed. California recorded only a handful of new federal website accessibility cases in 2025, not because risk went down, but because plaintiffs shifted to state court where Unruh damages are available. Many disputes begin with a demand letter citing specific barriers like unlabeled buttons, missing alt text or keyboard traps.

The takeaway for California businesses, especially those selling online: accessibility issues are easier and far less expensive to fix proactively than to address under pressure. And because barriers tend to reappear as themes, apps and content change, accessibility works best as ongoing maintenance, not a one-time project.

This section is general information, not legal advice. Consult an attorney about your specific situation.

The client: Bates Nut Farm

Bates Nut Farm is a North County San Diego institution. Founded in 1921 by Gilbert and Beatrice Bates in Valley Center, California, the family farm has grown from a walnut ranch into a beloved destination for nuts, candies, dried fruit, gifts and seasonal events. Their Shopify store at batesnutfarm.biz brings that farm-store experience to customers everywhere.

The challenge

The Bates Nut Farm team came to us with an urgent need: their storefront had significant accessibility gaps, and they wanted them resolved quickly and correctly. A WAVE accessibility audit of the site scored just 4.9 out of 10.

They arrived well prepared, with a clear list of requirements and thoughtful questions about what WCAG compliance would mean for their store, what could be fixed in the theme, and what their own team would need to manage going forward.

Our process

We approached the project in five clear stages, keeping the client involved at every step.

1. Audit review and discovery. We walked through the WAVE accessibility audits together with the Bates Nut Farm team, translating each error and alert into plain language. That gave everyone a shared picture of where the store stood and which issues posed the greatest barriers to shoppers.
2. Guidance and scoping. Using their requirements and questions as a guide, we provided recommendations and a defined scope separating theme-level code fixes from content updates their team could own. Clear scope meant clear expectations before any work began.
3. Technical improvements to the Shopify theme. Once the scope was approved, we worked diligently through the theme itself, addressing the kinds of structural issues that automated scans flag and real users feel, such as missing labels, contrast problems, heading structure, link and button naming, and keyboard and focus behavior.
4. Testing. We re-ran audits and tested changes across key templates, from the homepage to collection, product and cart pages, to confirm fixes held up and nothing new broke along the way.
5. WCAG 2.2 compliance reporting and handoff. We delivered WCAG 2.2 compliance reports documenting the improvements, along with guidance on what the team could continue improving, such as image alt text and content practices, so accessibility stays strong as the store evolves.

The results

The Bates Nut Farm storefront went from a 4.9/10 to a 9.5/10 WAVE accessibility score, nearly doubling its rating and resolving the urgent accessibility needs that started the project.

Measure	Before	After
WAVE accessibility score	4.9 / 10	9.5 / 10
WCAG 2.2 documentation	None	Compliance reports delivered
Team guidance	Open questions	Clear plan for ongoing improvements

Just as important, the Bates Nut Farm team now understands where their site stands, what was fixed, and how to keep it accessible as they add products and update content.

Takeaways for Shopify store owners

• Start with an audit. Tools like WAVE reveal where your store stands, but the real value comes from interpreting results and prioritizing fixes.
• Fix the theme, not just the symptoms. Many accessibility issues live in theme code, so they repeat on every page until they’re fixed at the source.
• Overlay widgets aren’t a substitute. Lasting accessibility comes from improving the code and content your customers actually interact with.
• Treat accessibility as ongoing. New products, apps and content can introduce new barriers, so periodic checks keep your store in good shape.

Is your store accessible?

If your Shopify store needs accessibility help, whether it’s urgent or part of long-term planning, Bryt Designs can help. We’ll review your audits with you, scope the work clearly, fix the issues in your theme and provide the WCAG 2.2 documentation you need.

Contact Bryt Designs to schedule an accessibility review.

Sources

• AudioEye: Accessibility Lawsuits by State (2026)
• Bates Nut Farm: About