Buttons, links, and other tappable elements that are too small or placed too close together are difficult for anyone with limited fine motor control to use accurately, and WCAG sets a specific minimum target size — a common failure point on sites designed primarily with a mouse cursor in mind rather than a fingertip.
Check target sizes on your own phone, not just visually on desktop
Open the site on an actual mobile device and try tapping small icons, close-together links, or compact buttons with your finger. Frequently missing the intended target or accidentally tapping a neighbouring one confirms a genuine sizing problem, which often isn’t obvious just looking at a desktop screen.
Touch target size correction
Touch targets too small or too close together, resized to meet WCAG's minimum.
- Full backup taken before we start
- If we can’t fix it, you get your money back
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This or something else?
| Buttons, links, or icons are too small or too close together to tap accurately | This fix covers it |
| You want a broader accessibility audit first, not just touch targets specifically | Accessibility audit report – WCAG 2.2 AA |
| The issue is specifically keyboard focus visibility, not touch target size | Focus visible & outline restoration |
| Mobile usability errors reported by Search Console, potentially overlapping with this | Mobile usability error remediation, in the Technical SEO Implementation category, worth checking alongside this |
What you are seeing
- Small icons or buttons that are difficult to tap accurately on a touchscreen
- Interactive elements placed close enough together that adjacent taps register incorrectly
- The issue possibly concentrated in navigation menus, icon buttons, or compact form controls
- Automated or manual testing confirming specific elements fall below the WCAG minimum target size
Common causes
- A design created primarily for desktop mouse interaction, without touch-specific sizing considered
- Icon-only buttons sized for visual proportion rather than a minimum functional touch area
- Compact layouts prioritising visual density over adequate spacing between tappable elements
- A responsive design that doesn’t adjust target sizing appropriately for smaller touchscreens
- Two adjacent links sharing padding that looks visually separated but doesn’t actually create two distinct tappable zones
What we do
- Test the site on actual mobile devices to identify undersized or too-closely-spaced targets
- Measure affected elements against the WCAG minimum target size requirement
- Adjust sizing and spacing to meet the requirement
- Verify the visual design remains coherent after adjustments
- Re-test on mobile devices to confirm improved tap accuracy
- Check across a representative sample of page types
What is included
- Undersized or too-closely-spaced touch targets identified and corrected
- Verified compliance with WCAG minimum target size requirements
- Preserved visual coherence after adjustments
- The pre-fix backup, kept for 30 days
Not included
- A full accessibility audit beyond touch target sizing specifically
- Broader mobile usability issues unrelated to touch targets, a separate, related fix
- Redesigning the site’s overall mobile layout beyond targeted sizing corrections
- Ongoing monitoring as new components are added
Questions about this fix
Why wouldn't this show up when I check my site on a desktop browser?
Desktop testing typically uses a mouse cursor, which is far more precise than a fingertip — a target that looks perfectly clickable with a cursor can still be genuinely difficult to tap accurately on an actual touchscreen.
Does this affect visitors without a motor impairment too?
Yes, to some degree — anyone can miss a small or closely spaced target occasionally, though the impact is significantly more frequent and disruptive for visitors with limited fine motor control, which is why WCAG sets a specific minimum.
Will fixing this make my design look less compact or polished?
We aim to adjust sizing and spacing while preserving overall visual coherence, though a design that was extremely dense specifically for visual effect might need slightly more breathing room to meet the requirement properly.
Is this related to the mobile usability errors Search Console reports?
There's overlap, since Search Console's mobile usability checks include some touch target sizing — worth checking both, since one may catch something the other doesn't.
How is the minimum target size actually measured?
WCAG specifies a minimum size in a measurable unit, which we test directly against on real devices rather than estimating visually, since actual measured size is what determines compliance.
Related fixes
If this is the second time this year
A bad update breaking the site is a symptom of updates not being tested first. Care plans run every update on a staging clone before it reaches your live site, which is the actual fix for this happening again.
Your access, your rules
Create a separate admin account for us and delete it when we are done. For anything else, we get in touch and agree a method — never a form field on this site, never by reply to an email.
We back up first, always
Before anything is touched we take a full backup and keep it for 30 days. If a fix goes wrong, we put the site back exactly as it was.
If it is not what you bought
If the problem turns out smaller than what you ordered, we refund the difference. If it is bigger, we stop and send a quote before doing any extra work.
If we cannot fix it
You get back what we received. Diagnosis is on us — you only pay when the problem is actually solved. The payment processor takes its fee before the money reaches us, so we never hold it and it is not ours to return. That is true here as everywhere else.
If it comes back
Reply within seven days of delivery and we put it back on the bench at no cost. The fix is not finished until it holds.
What we are responsible for
If something goes wrong with a fix, our responsibility is limited to what you paid for it. We take a full backup first so mistakes can be undone, and we tell you before doing anything outside what you bought.