The typical old site: what our scanner would flag
Sites for izakayarestaurants tend to fail in the same ways. Here’s the composite, rated the way our scanner rates findings — and who each one locks out.
- Critical
The menu is trapped in an image carousel
The skewer-by-skewer list lives inside an auto-advancing carousel of photos. A keyboard can't operate it, a screen reader can't parse it, and a guest trying to read price per skewer is racing the slides. Several WCAG failures in one component.
- Serious
Red text on black fails contrast
The signature red-on-black styling falls below the 4.5:1 ratio WCAG requires for body text. It reads as a blur for low-vision guests — and in a dark bar, for plenty of everyone else too.
- Serious
Links that say “click here”
Navigation and social links carry no descriptive text. Screen-reader users hear “link” with no idea where it goes — the digital equivalent of a door with no sign.
- Critical
Reservations happen in DMs
The only way to book a counter seat is a social-media direct message. There's no accessible flow at all — no form, no labels, no confirmation, nothing a screen reader or keyboard can work with.
- Moderate
Every photo has the same alt text
Where alt text exists at all, it's one identical sentence pasted onto every image. Screen-reader users hear the same line twelve times and learn nothing about any dish.
The Remi rebuild
The rebuilt Koji keeps the personality — the palette, the type, the mood — and removes the barriers. Accessible to WCAG 2.2 AA by default, and owned by the restaurant: the domain, the content, the guest relationships.
The menu is a list, not a carousel
Every skewer, small plate, and big bowl is real text in a semantic list — per-skewer pricing included. A keyboard can reach it, a screen reader can skim it, and nothing moves unless the guest moves it.
Red and black, within the lines
Koji keeps the binchotan-red accent on near-black, but body text is a warm off-white clamped to WCAG 2.2 AA contrast. The red is used where it can pass — accents, highlights — not stretched into unreadable paragraphs.
Reservations are a real flow
Booking a counter seat is a labeled, keyboard-accessible form on the site — with a confirmation a guest can actually hear and keep. No DMs required.
Every photo says what it shows
Alt text is human-written and required — “a steaming bowl of ramen with soft egg and scallion,” not “image” twelve times. Links and buttons all carry real, descriptive names.
Click through the live demo
An izakaya is hospitality after dark. The rebuild holds the same standard — open late, legible, and reachable for every guest.
Your restaurant next
Your site has its own version of this list.
Scan it free and see the findings in plain English. Then we rebuild it — migration is free, accessibility is built in to WCAG 2.2 AA, and you own everything: the domain, the content, the guest list.
Take online orders through Square and your whole site is free — $0/mo, no bill, ever. Dine-in only? A flat $99/mo founding price (regular $149), reservations included.