How to fix: lists not marked up as lists

What it looks like in the wild

Screen readers do not announce list count or position.

The screen-reader user, keyboard user, or low-vision user encountering this issue does not get an error message. The page just stops working for them. Which is why this kind of bug rarely shows up in your error tracker; it shows up in support tickets, lawsuits, and abandoned conversions.

Why it fails WCAG

Semantic lists provide programmatic structure.

The wrong pattern (avoid)

<div class="bullet">• Item 1</div>
<div class="bullet">• Item 2</div>

The right pattern (copy this)

<ul>
  <li>Item 1</li>
  <li>Item 2</li>
</ul>

Notes from real audits

• Screen readers announce the list count ("list, 5 items") and position ("item 2 of 5") — this context is lost with div-based lists.

• Use <ol> for ordered sequences where the position matters (steps, rankings); use <ul> for unordered collections.

• Navigation menus are typically lists: <nav><ul><li><a>...</a></li></ul></nav> is the correct pattern.

• list-style: none in CSS does not affect semantic list behaviour, though Safari/VoiceOver may de-list it — add role="list" if needed for compatibility.

How to verify the fix

Shipping the change is not the same as passing 1.3.1. Re-run these checks against the page you edited before you close the ticket.

• Use a screen reader's heading list (NVDA: H key, VoiceOver: VO+U).

• Inspect tables for <th> and either scope or headers attributes.

• Check every <input> has a programmatic name.

What 1.3.1 requires

1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A, Perceivable): The visual structure of a page (headings, lists, tables, form labels) must also be available programmatically — assistive tech relies on the markup, not the styling. When you style a <div> to look like a heading without using <h2>, screen readers cannot navigate by heading. When form fields are not associated with labels, voice users cannot fill them in. Programmatic structure is the contract between visual design and assistive tech.

• <div class="title"> styled to look like a heading

  1.3.1

• Visual list (bulleted with images) without <ul>/<li>

  1.3.1

• Data tables without <th> and scope attributes

  1.3.1

Priority: Moderate

This will not stop a user completing a task on its own, but it accumulates. A page carrying several moderate findings degrades into one that is technically usable and practically exhausting — and an auditor counts them individually.

Because the cause is almost always a shared component rather than a single page, fix it where the component is defined and re-scan the whole site. Record 1.3.1 on the ticket verbatim: that string is what an auditor, a procurement questionnaire or a regulator will search for.