WPML 4.7.4 introduces the first stage of compliance with the European Accessibility Act (EAA). It also includes a security fix and compatibility improvements for popular page builders.
Accessibility Aligned with EAA
The EAA requires digital products, including WordPress themes and plugins, to be usable by people with disabilities. While we always follow common accessibility guidelines, in WPML 4.7.4, we’re taking further steps toward EAA compliance.
Improvements related to accessibility in this release:
- Updated menus, buttons, and interactive elements for better consistency and clarity
- Improved color and contrast to meet contrast ratio requirements
- Ensured links are visually distinguishable from surrounding text
More improvements coming in future releases:
- Enhanced operability of the language switcher
- Support for resizing text up to 200% without loss of functionality
- Full keyboard accessibility for all interactive elements (buttons, links, and forms)
- More descriptive labels for form fields (not just placeholders)
- Consistent styling for error messages and notifications
Resolved Security Issue in Language and Currency Switchers
This release includes a security fix for a vulnerability in the language switcher shortcode. We also resolved the identical issue with the currency switcher in WooCommerce Multilingual.
For security reasons, we cannot reveal the details, but it’s an XSS vulnerability for sites that use Twig templates to design their language or currency switchers. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must be logged into your site with Contributor-level access or higher.
Both are longstanding issues, but there are no reports of them being exploited on actual sites.
We strongly recommend updating to WPML 4.7.4 to keep your site secure.
How to Report Security Issues
Security is always our top priority, and we have a dedicated page for reporting such issues.
If you find a security issue in any WPML plugin, please report it through our security and vulnerability page.
Fixes for Popular Page Builders
Thanks to your feedback, this release also brings improvements for translating content built with popular page builders.
This release includes fixes for:
- Elementor
- Gutenberg
- Divi
- Avada
- Beaver Builder
- Cornerstone
- WPBakery
For a full list of changes, see the WPML 4.7.4 changelog.
Ready to Update
This release includes:
- WPML Multilingual CMS 4.7.4
- WPML String Translation 3.3.3
- WooCommerce Multilingual 5.4.4
On regular sites, make sure to update both the core and String Translation plugins.
On WooCommerce sites, update all three plugins.
We are releasing these versions to all websites, so they should soon appear on the Plugins page in your admin. It might take 24 hours for the update to reach your site.
If you have feedback or questions about the European Accessibility Act improvements or other fixes in this release, leave us a comment below. We appreciate your input and are here to help.
Did this update also resolve the issue with bloated (very large) database files that are autoloaded?
1 wp_installer_settings yes 105736
3 icl_sitepress_settings yes 34717
4 icl_st_settings yes 20869
7 wcml_currency_switcher_template_objects auto 11020
13 wpml_shortcode_list yes 7599
14 wpml_disabled_switcher_template_objects auto 7343
16 WPML(ST-MO) yes 5575
20 otgs_active_components yes 3967
Hi Sander,
Our development team is working to resolve these issues, with fixes scheduled for the WPML 4.8 release this summer.
Hello,
I’m experiencing serious issues when trying to activate WPML on a fresh WordPress installation updated to the latest version. I’ve tested it on two different servers, and in both cases, the license registration does not work. In one instance, I even encountered a critical error that forced me to remove the plugin via FTP.
Could you please confirm if this is an issue on my end only, or if it’s a known problem?
Hi, Daniele! I am sorry to hear about the issue you’re having. I am not aware of any similar reports about the issue you’re describing. I also just created a test site with WordPress 6.8.1 and WPML 4.7.4 and the installation and everything went perfectly fine. Please, create a ticket in our support and let our team take a look at your site(s) to try and see what could be the issue.
My Website has become very slow. As soon as I disable WPML all issues are resolved. I having this panic attack as I am not getting any enquiry or orders due to wPML. I am very disappointed with WPML.
Hi, Rabin! I’m sorry to hear about the issue you ran into. I’ve shared this with my colleague and she will contact you very soon about this issue. We need to understand what happened exactly and what is causing this to happen on your site.