The Essential Guide to Web Accessibility in eCommerce

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), developed by the World Wide Web Consortium, serve as the cornerstone of digital accessibility standards. These guidelines are structured around four fundamental principles:

• Perceivable: Information must be presented in ways all users can perceive
• Operable: Users must be able to navigate and interact with website elements
• Understandable: Content must be clear and straightforward
• Robust: Content must work well with various assistive technologies

WCAG Compliance Levels

WCAG defines three compliance levels to help organizations set appropriate accessibility goals:

Level A represents minimum accessibility requirements, covering basic needs like keyboard navigation and screen reader compatibility. This level is essential for all websites.

Level AA, the standard most organizations should target, includes requirements for color contrast, consistent navigation, and error identification. This level is typically referenced in legal requirements and is particularly important for commercial and public-sector websites.

Level AAA provides the highest level of accessibility, with stringent requirements like high contrast ratios and sign language for videos. While not feasible for all content, organizations serving users with disabilities should implement relevant AAA criteria where possible.

Implementation Strategy Across Levels

Most organizations should:

1. Start by achieving Level A compliance as the foundation
2. Progress to Level AA as the primary goal
3. Selectively implement Level AAA criteria that are relevant to their specific audience and feasible to achieve

Choosing Your Target Level

When deciding which level to target, consider:

• Your audience's needs and characteristics
• Legal requirements in your jurisdiction
• Industry standards and expectations
• Available resources and technical capabilities
• Business objectives and market position

For most commercial websites, achieving Level AA compliance while implementing selected Level AAA features for critical content provides the best balance of accessibility and feasibility.

Legal Compliance and Risk Management

Web accessibility isn't optional—it's often a legal requirement. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and similar laws worldwide mandate that businesses make their digital presence accessible. The consequences of non-compliance can be severe:

• In 2023, over 4,600 ADA-related digital lawsuits were filed in federal and state courts
• Initial fines for violations can exceed $75,000, with subsequent violations reaching over $150,000
• High-profile cases against companies like Domino's Pizza and Target Corporation have highlighted the significant financial and reputational risks
• Companies often face additional costs for retrofitting websites to meet compliance requirements
• Negative publicity from accessibility lawsuits can have long-lasting effects on brand reputation

The accessibility requirements are coming to the European Union. From June 2025, all websites will have to comply with the European Accessibility Act. Organizations that fail to comply with the new law will face penalties, including fines.

Expanding Market Reach

With over 1.3 billion people worldwide having some form of disability, ignoring accessibility means excluding a massive potential market. Making your website accessible opens doors to new customers and opportunities, particularly crucial for eCommerce businesses seeking to maximize their reach.

Enhanced User Experience

Accessibility features benefit everyone, not just users with disabilities. Clear navigation, readable fonts, and well-structured content improve the experience for all visitors. For instance:

• Video captions help viewers in noisy environments
• Simple layouts assist users who are in a hurry
• Clear navigation benefits users regardless of their technical expertise
• Proper contrast and readable fonts reduce eye strain for all users

SEO and Performance Benefits

Implementing accessibility features can significantly improve your website's search engine optimization and overall performance:

• Proper headings and structure help search engines better understand your content
• Alt text for images provides additional context for search engines
• Clean, accessible code often leads to faster loading times
• Mobile-friendly accessible designs improve overall site performance

Creating an accessible eCommerce experience requires a thoughtful, comprehensive approach that considers every aspect of user interaction. The following best practices provide a framework for implementing accessibility effectively across your eCommerce.

Designing for Universal Access

At the heart of accessible design lies the principle of universal access - creating interfaces that work for everyone, regardless of their abilities or preferred methods of interaction. This begins with a clean, logical layout that provides a clear visual hierarchy and predictable element placement. Navigation menus should be immediately recognizable and consistent across all pages, giving users confidence in their ability to explore your site. Here’s how Lift Foils tackle the navigation on their website:

↑ Lift Foils navigation ensures the site is easy to explore for all users.

↑ Aether Apparel is setting industry standards when it comes to web accessibility. When navigating the site using your keyboard, you can not only explore the main menu. There is also an additional button that allows the user to access the submenu without using mouse or touchpad.

Focus indicators play a crucial role in accessibility, serving as visual breadcrumbs that help users track their position on the page. These indicators should be clearly visible, with high contrast against the background, and should appear whenever an element receives keyboard focus. For example, a blue outline (with sufficient contrast) around the currently selected menu item or form field helps both keyboard users and those with motor impairments understand exactly where they are on the page.

↑ The footer at Lift Foils can be used with mouse or keyboard.

Product Display and Interactive Features

Product presentation requires careful attention to accessibility. High-quality zoom functionality, like that implemented on MyTheresa's product pages, allows users to examine fine details of products by hovering or clicking on images. Such features are particularly valuable for users with visual impairments who need to see product details clearly. Zoom controls should be keyboard-accessible and clearly indicated to users.

↑ MyTheresa makes shopping accessible by allowing zoom feature.

↑ Amazon is setting accessibility standards as one of the biggest eCommerce in the world.

Product carousels and image galleries must be navigable both by mouse and keyboard, with clear controls for moving between images. Each product image should include descriptive alt text that conveys important visual information about the product. For product videos, provide both captions and audio descriptions that explain visual elements, ensuring users with hearing or visual impairments can fully understand product features and demonstrations.

Search Functionality and Navigation

An accessible search function is crucial for eCommerce success. The search bar should be prominently positioned and easily identifiable, typically in the header area where users expect to find it. Taking inspiration from sites like Liftfoils or Aether Apparel, implement an intuitive search interface with features such as:

• Autocomplete suggestions that can be navigated by keyboard
• Clear visual feedback when the search is active
• Search results that maintain a logical tab order
• Error-tolerant search that handles common misspellings
• Clear indication of the number of results found
  

↑ Users can easily find what they need by using either a mouse or keyboard.

↑ Users can easily find products on Aether Apparel website .

The search results page should be well-organized with proper heading hierarchy and clear product categorization. Users should be able to refine their search results using accessible filters and sorting options that work with both mouse and keyboard input.

Making Content Accessible

Content accessibility goes far beyond simply adding alt text to images. When describing products, alt text should be comprehensive enough to give screen reader users the same level of understanding as visual users. For instance, rather than describing an image as "blue dress," an effective alt text might read "Mid-length cotton dress in navy blue with quarter-length sleeves and white pearl buttons." This level of detail helps users make informed purchasing decisions regardless of their visual ability. Generative AI tools are a great help when it comes to writing alt texts for your website.

↑ An example of a well-optimized alt text.

↑ Puma is making it easier for everyone to understand the ins and outs of their products.

Typography choices significantly impact readability and comprehension. Fonts should be clean and legible, with adequate line spacing and character width. Text size should be flexible - users should be able to resize text up to 200% without losing functionality or forcing horizontal scrolling. This is particularly important for product descriptions, pricing information, and crucial details like sizing or material specifications.

↑ The images are taken from screens of different sizes and the font fits the screen.

Link text deserves special attention in eCommerce contexts. Instead of generic phrases like "click here" or "learn more," links should clearly indicate their destination. For example, "View size guide for women's dresses" is more meaningful than "click here for sizes." This clarity helps all users, but especially those using screen readers who may navigate by scanning available links.

↑ Magda Butrym’s page with a dedicated CTA.

↑ Detailed CTA on a button will help people with disabilities navigate your site.

Color and Contrast Considerations

Following Tesla's example of strong visual design, implement high contrast ratios between text and background colors to ensure readability for all users. Critical content like product prices, availability information, and call-to-action buttons should maintain a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text, as specified in WCAG guidelines.

↑ Tesla mastered the contrast ratios making their website easy to navigate.

Consider these contrast principles:

• Use dark text on light backgrounds or vice versa for maximum readability
• Ensure that interactive elements are clearly distinguishable from static content
• Avoid placing text over busy background images without proper contrast enhancement
• Provide sufficient contrast for form fields and their labels
• Use color combinations that remain distinct for colorblind users

Creating Accessible Forms and Checkout Processes

The checkout process is often the most critical - and most problematic - area for accessibility. Forms should follow a logical structure with clearly labeled fields and explicit instructions. Labels should be programmatically associated with their input fields, allowing screen readers to properly announce what information is required in each field.

Error handling requires particular attention. When users make mistakes, error messages should be clear, specific, and announced to screen readers. Instead of simply highlighting a field in red, provide explicit text explaining what went wrong and how to fix it. For example, rather than "Invalid input," use "Please enter a valid email address in the format name@domain.com."

↑ Amazon registration process is easy to follow.

Time limits during checkout can create significant barriers for users who need more time to complete their purchase. If your system must implement session timeouts, provide clear warnings before the timeout occurs and offer options to extend the session. This helps users with motor impairments or those who need additional time to process information complete their purchases successfully.

Implementing Mobile Accessibility

Mobile accessibility presents unique challenges that require specific consideration. Touch targets should be large enough (at least 44x44 pixels) and sufficiently spaced to prevent accidental activation. This is particularly important for critical elements like "Add to Cart" buttons or form submissions.

Responsive design should maintain accessibility across all screen sizes. This means ensuring that content reflows appropriately at different zoom levels and that all functionality remains available regardless of device orientation. Critical information and controls should never rely solely on hover states, as these are unavailable on touch devices.

↑ Responsive design will make sure your site is easily accessible from various devices.

For many users with vestibular disorders or motion sensitivity, auto-playing videos and animations can trigger dizziness, nausea, or migraines. By offering reduce motion settings and video controls, we transform our websites from potential barriers into welcoming spaces where every visitor can comfortably engage with our content, regardless of their sensory needs.

Consider the impact of gesture-based interactions on accessibility. While swipe gestures might work well for many users, they always provide alternative methods of interaction. For example, if product images can be viewed by swiping, also provide visible next/previous buttons that can be activated by touch or keyboard.

Technical Implementation Considerations

The technical foundation of your site plays a crucial role in accessibility. Semantic HTML provides the backbone of accessible content, with proper heading hierarchies and ARIA landmarks helping users understand page structure and navigation options. Dynamic content updates should be handled thoughtfully, with appropriate ARIA live regions ensuring that screen reader users are informed of important changes like cart updates or error messages.

Performance optimization is an often overlooked aspect of accessibility. Heavy JavaScript implementations can interfere with assistive technologies and create timing issues for users who need more time to process information. Minimize the use of resource-intensive animations and ensure that all interactive elements work properly with keyboard navigation and screen readers.

Remember that accessibility features often benefit all users, not just those with disabilities. Clear navigation, good contrast, and logical layouts improve the shopping experience for everyone, while features like keyboard navigation can increase efficiency for power users.

The Role of Accessibility Testing Tools

Effective accessibility testing requires a multi-layered approach combining both automated and manual tools. Automated testing tools serve as the first line of defense in identifying common accessibility issues, though they shouldn't be relied upon exclusively. Automated testing won’t spot all accessibility issues and can sometimes indicate false positives.

AccesiBe is a company that provides web accessibility solutions to help businesses comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). The company offers AI-powered solutions that are affordable, efficient, and compliant.

WAVE (Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool) provides immediate visual feedback about accessibility issues directly in the browser context. It highlights both errors and potential concerns, making it particularly valuable for content creators and developers who need quick feedback during their work. The tool's visual overlay system helps users understand exactly where problems exist on the page and offers suggestions for remediation.

The Axe Accessibility Checker, integrated into many development environments, offers more technical insights and can be incorporated into continuous integration pipelines. This makes it especially valuable for development teams working to maintain accessibility standards throughout the development process. Its detailed reporting helps developers understand not just what's wrong, but why it matters and how to fix it.

Siteimprove provides enterprise-level accessibility testing with comprehensive reporting and monitoring capabilities. It's particularly valuable for large organizations that need to maintain accessibility compliance across multiple websites and digital properties. The tool's ability to track improvements over time and prioritize issues helps organizations manage their accessibility journey effectively.

Google Lighthouse, while known primarily as a performance testing tool, includes valuable accessibility audits that can be run as part of regular development workflows. Its integration with Chrome DevTools makes it particularly convenient for developers to check accessibility during development.

Screen readers play a crucial role in accessibility testing, as they reveal how content will actually be experienced by users with visual impairments. JAWS (Job Access With Speech) remains the most widely used screen reader in the professional space, making it essential for thorough testing. NVDA provides a free, open-source alternative that's particularly valuable for development teams working on tight budgets.

VoiceOver, built into Apple devices, and TalkBack for Android devices are essential for testing mobile accessibility. These tools help developers understand how mobile interfaces work with assistive technologies, revealing issues that might not be apparent through other testing methods.

Apart from automated tools, you can take a closer look at agencies that specialize in accessibility services, such as Level Access.

Effective Testing Strategies

Accessibility testing requires a strategic approach that goes beyond simply running automated tools. The most effective testing programs combine automated scanning with manual testing and real user feedback. This comprehensive approach helps identify issues that automated tools might miss, such as the logical flow of content or the clarity of navigation paths.

Manual testing should simulate real-world usage scenarios. This includes:

• completing purchase flows using only a keyboard,
• navigating with screen readers, and
• testing with various browser zoom levels.

Testers should attempt to complete key user journeys, such as product searches, checkout processes, and account management tasks, using different assistive technologies. It’s important not to forget to test the menu and subpages while using the keyboard, not the mouse.

Regular testing schedules help maintain accessibility standards over time. As websites evolve and new content is added, accessibility issues can inadvertently be introduced. Establishing a routine testing schedule, perhaps aligned with regular development sprints or content updates, helps catch and address issues before they impact users.

Documentation plays a crucial role in effective testing. Detailed records of testing procedures, identified issues, and remediation efforts help teams track progress and maintain consistency in their approach. This documentation also provides valuable evidence of accessibility efforts, which can be important from a legal compliance perspective.

Assessment and Strategic Planning

The journey to accessibility begins with a thorough assessment of your current digital presence. This initial audit should examine not just technical compliance with WCAG standards, but also the real-world usability of your site for people with disabilities. This means looking beyond automated test results to understand how well your site actually serves users with different needs and abilities.

Gathering input from users with disabilities helps identify practical issues that impact real-world usability. This feedback might reveal problems with task completion, navigation confusion, or content understanding that wouldn't be apparent through automated testing alone.

Start with a comprehensive assessment of your website's accessibility. Conduct both technical WCAG compliance checks and real-world usability testing with people who have disabilities to identify actual barriers they encounter.

Build a cross-functional team where developers implement accessibility standards, designers create inclusive interfaces, and content creators produce accessible materials. Regular training keeps the team updated on accessibility requirements and best practices.

Integrate accessibility into standard workflows by adding checkpoints throughout development, from design reviews to code testing. Implement automated testing during builds to catch issues early.

Focus first on critical improvements that impact essential tasks: keyboard navigation, text alternatives for images, contrast compliance, and form accessibility. Address secondary enhancements like additional navigation options and enhanced descriptions over time while maintaining consistent progress.

Defining and Tracking Key Metrics

Measuring accessibility success requires tracking both technical compliance and user success metrics. Accessibility audit scores provide a quantitative measure of technical compliance, while user feedback and task completion rates offer insights into real-world effectiveness. Business metrics like reduced bounce rates and improved conversion rates can help demonstrate the value of accessibility improvements to stakeholders.

Engagement metrics for users with disabilities provide particularly valuable insights. The metrics include tracking how well users with assistive technologies can complete key tasks, measuring session durations for users with screen readers, or monitoring cart abandonment rates for users navigating by keyboard.

Ongoing Monitoring and Improvement

Maintaining accessibility requires ongoing attention and regular assessment. Regular audits help identify new issues as they arise, while user feedback provides insights into emerging challenges or changing needs. Performance tracking helps ensure that accessibility improvements remain effective over time.

Success in accessibility isn't just about meeting technical standards—it's about creating truly inclusive digital experiences that work for all users. This requires ongoing commitment, regular assessment, and a willingness to continuously improve based on user feedback and emerging best practices.

Creating truly accessible digital experiences isn't a destination—it's an ongoing journey that requires dedication, time, and consistent effort from everyone involved. While the path to accessibility can be time-consuming, modern development approaches have made it more manageable. Leveraging trusted open-source libraries and established frameworks can significantly streamline the implementation process, allowing teams to build on proven solutions rather than starting from scratch.

However, the most successful accessibility initiatives arise from cross-functional collaboration. Designers need to envision inclusive interfaces that work for all users, developers must implement robust technical solutions that support assistive technologies, and content creators should craft clear, descriptive content that everyone can understand. This symphony of skills, when working in harmony, creates digital spaces that truly welcome all users.

Remember, web accessibility isn't a checkbox to tick off—it's a commitment to continuous improvement. As technologies evolve and user needs change, your approach to accessibility must evolve too. By embracing this ongoing process and investing the necessary time and resources, you're not just building a compliant website—you're creating a digital experience that genuinely serves all users, regardless of their abilities.