Accessibility in E-commerce: How to promote an inclusive experience for everyone

During the global pandemic, demand for online shopping increased significantly, further driving the expansion of e-commerce. However, as online commerce becomes mainstream, it is crucial to remember that not all users have the same skills or needs when browsing the web.

Unfortunately, many e-commerce sites are still not adequately equipped with accessibility features. Accessibility in e-commerce is essential to ensure that everyone, regardless of their physical or cognitive abilities, can enjoy an equitable and satisfying online shopping experience.

What is accessibility in e-commerce?

Accessibility in e-commerce refers to the practice of creating digital platforms that are easily usable and accessible by all people, including those with visual, hearing, motor or cognitive disabilities. This entails designing e-commerce websites and applications in such a way that they are perceived, operated and understood by all users, regardless of their abilities.

The importance of accessibility in e-commerce

1. Inclusion and equity:

Ensuring that everyone has equal access to online commerce promotes a more inclusive and equitable society.

2. Wide Customer Base:

By making your website accessible, you expand your potential customer base, reaching a more diverse audience.

3. Legal Compliance and Brand Image:

Many countries have regulations that require web accessibility. Additionally, demonstrating a commitment to accessibility can improve brand image and attract conscious customers.

4. Better User Experience (UX):

An inclusive approach often leads to a better user experience for all users, regardless of their abilities.

Tips for more inclusive navigation in e-commerce

1. Responsive and Flexible Design:

Make sure your website is compatible with different devices and screen sizes, ensuring a consistent experience across devices.

2. Alternative text for images:

Provide alternative text descriptions for all images, allowing visually impaired users to understand the visual content of your website.

3. Appropriate Contrast:

Use appropriate colors and contrasts to make all content easier to read, especially for people with visual impairments or vision problems.

4. Intuitive Navigation:

Simplify site navigation, ensuring users can easily find what they're looking for, regardless of their familiarity with the web.

5. Subtitles and transcriptions:

Provide captions and transcriptions for videos and audio, ensuring that users who are deaf or hard of hearing can access content.

6. User Testing:

Conduct usability testing with a variety of users, including those with different skills and needs, to identify and correct any barriers to accessibility.

What are Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)?

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), are a set of recommendations designed to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities. They were created to provide a globally recognized and adopted standard, ensuring that websites are perceived, operated and understood by all users, regardless of their abilities.

WCAG are organized into four basic principles, known by the acronym POUR:

1. Noticeable:

Ensure that web content is perceptible to users' senses, especially for those with visual or hearing impairments.

2. Operable:

Ensure that the interactive components of the website are operable for all users, including those with motor or cognitive disabilities.

3. Understandable:

Ensure that the content and operation of the website are understandable to all users, regardless of their experience or cognitive ability.

4. Robust:

Ensuring that web content is robust enough to be reliably interpreted by a wide range of user agents, including assistive technologies.

Each of these principles is accompanied by a set of specific guidelines and success criteria that website developers must follow to ensure compliance with WCAG. These success criteria are classified into three levels of compliance: A (minimum), AA (recommended) and AAA (highest).

Here is a simplified table to better understand WCAG principles, guidelines, and success criteria:

Principle	Guidelines	Success Criteria
Noticeable	Provide alternative text	1.1.1: Non-textual
	for visual content	1.2.1: Audio Alternatives
		1.4.3: Minimum contrast
Operable	Make navigation easier	2.1.1: Keyboard
	and the operation of the website	2.2.1: Pause, stop, hide
		2.5.1: Input target
Understandable	Make content clear	3.1.1: Easy reading
	it's understandable	3.2.1: Focus
		3.3.1: Error identification
Robust	Maximize compatibility	4.1.1: Parsing
	with assistive technologies	4.2.1: Name, function, value
		4.4.1: Purpose of entry

This table summarizes in a simplified way the four WCAG principles, the guidelines associated with each principle and some of the most important success criteria within each guideline. These success criteria provide specific guidance on how to make web content more accessible to all users.

Conclusion

In a scenario where e-commerce continues to reshape our interaction and consumption habits, accessibility emerges as an indispensable pillar for an authentically inclusive and equitable online experience. “Inclusion is a choice, exclusion is also a choice.” Every design decision, every line of code, represents a choice between inclusion and exclusion.

In this case, I invite you to take a deeper look at how to make your e-commerce website more accessible. At PlayEcom , we're here to help you with tips and information about Shopify and e-commerce, all to make your online store more inclusive and striking. Take a look at our website to check out more content on how to improve your online store and understand why accessibility is so important for the success of your business. Let's together create an online environment where everyone has the chance to get involved, participate and grow.