In today’s digital age, where e-commerce dominates, accessibility isn’t just ethically but financially imperative. According to Nucleus Research’s 2019 Report, The Internet Is Unavailable, “two-thirds of e-commerce transactions are abandoned by people who are blind because of lack of accessibility.” They further state that this could add up to roughly losing “$6.9 billion a year to competitors whose sites are accessible.” The financial impact on sales is clear, and that doesn’t even consider the fees from accessibility lawsuits.
(A note from Kelly) Small issues add up. Accessibility is important not just for an audience who is screen reader dependent but for the future utility of the experience when porting to other platforms, such as voice, in the future. This year, we plan on featuring small Accessibility issues that can cause big problems. During the holidays, online shopping was in high gear. Here are some issues we can learn lessons from!
The Challenge:
While shopping on Amazon, the user encounters difficulty accessing product information due to a dynamic feedback form linked to the sponsored product. This form pops up when the user taps on the product heading.
Closing out of the form and selecting other headings associated with the product still does not give the user access to the product details. In this case, the user must turn off the screen reader and manually try to click the link to bypass the feedback form.
Recommended Best Practice:
The product heading should link directly to the product details, not a form. The feedback form should be linked to the title “Sponsored,” which shows above the product name. Lastly, dialog widgets like pop-up containers must be correctly labeled for screen readers so the users can understand what is happening on the screen.
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