Accessible Astro Starter

A ready-to-use, SEO and accessibility-focused Astro starter template. Built with modern web standards, WCAG 2.2 AA guidelines, and European Accessibility Act (EAA) compliance in mind, it provides a solid foundation for creating inclusive websites. Features Tailwind CSS 4 integration, comprehensive component library with enhanced form validation, color contrast checker, and typography with Atkinson Hyperlegible font for improved readability. Includes a powerful command launcher for keyboard-driven navigation, preference toggles for dark mode, high contrast, and reduced motion, plus dynamic blog/portfolio pages with social sharing, contact forms, and full MDX support.

     

Our mission

Provide developers with accessible, easy-to-use components that make building inclusive web applications simpler and faster, without compromising on customization or performance.

(Accessibility) Features

• Astro 6.1.1+
• Tailwind CSS 4.1+ support
• TypeScript integration with path aliases for easier imports and content collections support
• Prettier integration with prettier-plugin-astro and prettier-plugin-tailwind
• ESLint integration with strict accessibility settings for eslint-plugin-jsx-a11y
• Markdown and MDX support with comprehensive examples and components
• Modern OKLCH color system with automatic palette generation from primary/secondary colors
• Atkinson Hyperlegible font for improved readability and accessibility
• Lucide icon set via astro-icon for consistent, friendly icons
• Semantic HTML structure with Button, Link and Heading components
• Excellent Lighthouse/PageSpeed scores
• Accessible landmarks such as header, main, footer, section and nav
• Outline focus indicator which works on dark and light backgrounds
• Several aria attributes which provide a better experience for screen reader users
• [...page].astro and [post].astro demonstrate the use of dynamic routes and provide a basic blog with breadcrumbs and pagination
• 404.astro provides a custom 404 error page which you can adjust to your needs
• Header.astro component with optimized accessibility and design
• Footer.astro component with informative content and links
• SkipLinks.astro component to skip to either the main menu or the main content
• Navigation.astro component with keyboard accessible (dropdown) navigation and highlighted menu item option
• ResponsiveToggle.astro component with accessible responsive toggle functionality
• Preference toggles for Dark Mode, High Contrast, and Reduced Motion with system preference support
• ColorContrast.astro component for enhanced visual clarity and WCAG compliance
• Built-in command launcher with keyboard navigation (Cmd/Ctrl+K) for quick access to preferences and navigation
• SiteMeta.astro SEO component for setting custom metadata on different pages
• .sr-only utility class for screen reader only text content (hides text visually)
• prefers-reduced-motion disables animations for users that have this preference turned on
• Components including ColorContrast.astro, BlockQuote.astro, BreakoutImage.astro, Logo.astro, SocialShares.astro, PageHeader.astro, FeaturedPosts.astro, and FeaturedProjects.astro
• Enhanced form components with comprehensive validation: Form, Input, Textarea, Checkbox, Radio, and Fieldset with WCAG 2.2 compliance
• Automatic form validation with custom patterns, error handling, and screen reader support
• Blog and portfolio pages with featured images, author details, social sharing, and breakout images
• Contact page with comprehensive form validation showcase and accessibility demonstrations
• Thank-you page for form submissions with interactive feedback
• Accessibility Statement template page
• Color Contrast Checker interactive page
• Comprehensive sitemap page with organized navigation and automatic XML sitemap generation via @astrojs/sitemap
• Enhanced accessible-components showcase page with expanded component demonstrations
• Smooth micro-interactions and animations on hover, open and close states (respecting reduced motion preferences)
• Comprehensive SCSS utility classes
• CSS with logical properties and custom properties
• Accessible button and hyperlink styling with clear focus states
• Styled <kbd> element for keyboard shortcut documentation

Getting started

Clone this theme locally and run any of the following commands in your terminal:

Command	Action
npm install	Installs dependencies
npm run dev	Starts local dev server at localhost:4321
npm run build	Build your production site to ./dist/
npm run preview	Preview your build locally, before deploying

Create a project with the CLI

You can now scaffold projects directly from this starter with the create CLI:

npm create accessible-astro-starter@latest

The CLI walks you through:

• project directory
• site name
• preset selection (full, blog, portfolio, minimal, barebones)
• whether to keep the Accessible Astro launcher

Generated projects always strip contributor-only workspace tooling such as scripts/workspace-config.js and simplify astro.config.mjs accordingly.

Accessible Astro ecosystem

The Accessible Astro ecosystem is a collection of projects that are designed to help you build accessible web applications. It includes:

• Accessible Astro Starter: Fully accessible starter for kickstarting Astro projects, with Tailwind.
• Accessible Astro Components: Library of reusable, accessible components built for Astro.
• Accessible Astro Dashboard: User-friendly dashboard interface with a login screen and widgets.
• Accessible Astro Launcher: Command palette/launcher component for Astro projects.
• Accessible Astro Docs: Comprehensive documentation for all Accessible Astro projects.
• Color Contrast Checker: WCAG-compliant color contrast checker with design system token generation.

Check out our roadmap to see what's coming next!

Contributing

We welcome contributions to improve the documentation! You can help by:

1. Filing an issue
2. Submitting a pull request
3. Starting a discussion
4. Supporting on Open Collective

Support this project

Your support helps us cover basic costs and continue building accessible solutions for the Astro ecosystem. By becoming a sponsor, you're not just supporting code – you're helping create a more inclusive web for everyone. Every contribution, big or small, helps maintain and improve these accessibility-focused tools.

Together we make a difference

We want to express our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who contributes to making the web more accessible:

• The Astro team for creating an amazing static site generator and the wonderful Starlight theme
• Our contributors who dedicate their time and expertise to improve these tools
• Niek Derksen for conducting comprehensive accessibility audits to ensure WCAG compliance
• Our sponsors who help make this project sustainable
• The web community for embracing and promoting web accessibility
• You, the developer for choosing to make your projects more accessible

Together, we're not just building documentation or components – we're creating a more inclusive and accessible web for everyone. Every contribution, whether it's code, documentation, bug reports, or feedback, helps move us closer to this goal. ✨

Remember: Accessibility is not a feature, it's a fundamental right. Thank you for being part of this journey!