Make Your E-Commerce Accessible to Everyone
Ensuring ADA compliance for E-commerce protects you from many legal issues while creating an enjoyable online shopping experience for everyone. Understanding what it takes to achieve compliance is difficult, but an accessibility audit report can help. WebAccessible.Biz performs a comprehensive scan of your web pages to assess how inclusive and operable it is for people with disabilities. An audit gives developers and executives actionable insights to make their online space more open and usable.
Boost Business and Protect Your Brand
ADA compliance for E-commerce businesses is beneficial in many ways. There are legal, financial, and ethical reasons to consider:
Legal Protection
The Americans with Disabilities Act mandates that public spaces be open and accessible to everyone. Online spaces should also be accessible, especially business sites that are considered places of public accommodation under the Act, meaning they must be accessible to individuals with disabilities. Compliance will guard you from legal risks and potential penalties.
Expanding Market Reach
A significant proportion of the population lives with a disability. Visual and hearing problems can make navigating many online spaces particularly restrictive. Providing e-commerce accessibility to more people helps boost your business reach and sales. Failing to provide accommodation means missing out on a more extensive customer base.
Improved User Experience for All
The ethical implications of ensuring e-commerce ADA compliance are clear. Making your online store navigable and usable for everyone is the right thing to do, and achieving an inclusive experience will be personally rewarding.
Enhanced SEO Performance
Another great benefit of achieving e-commerce ADA compliance is that the process will positively impact SEO performance. Principles like proper use of alt text, structured content, and descriptive link text can all incorporate SEO elements to improve your site’s visibility to search engines and people. Prioritizing ease of use for people with disabilities will stand out to search algorithms, resulting in better rankings and increased traffic.
Build Brand Reputation
Build a brand that consumers trust and respect. Demonstrate your business’s social responsibility. People are increasingly seeking out brands that prioritize diversity and inclusion. Do your part to remove barriers to access and receive a loyal customer base in return.
Future-Proof Your Website
As technology and social standards evolve, businesses prioritizing e-commerce accessibility are better prepared for future changes. Ensuring ADA compliance addresses current legal obligations and sets the foundation for adapting to future regulations and customer expectations.
What Does an ADA E-Commerce Site Look Like?
The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) is a global collective of individuals and organizations that want to make online spaces accessible to everyone, including those with disabilities. The initiative established the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to give developers recommendations on making sites more inclusive. The WCAG aims to bring the same ADA compliance standards to the online environment as is already mandated for physical public spaces.
An ADA e-commerce store focuses on creating an easy-to-use system for everyone, including those with visual, auditory, motor, or cognitive impairments. Examples of features and characteristics of a platform that the WCAG would recommend include:
Clear and Consistent Navigation
Anyone should be able to perceive and use all interface and navigation features. Intuitive navigation features are a plus if they help users find things quickly without confusion.
Screen Reader Compatibility
Compatibility with screen readers and other assistive technologies will help visually impaired users. Non-text content, like images, videos, and buttons, need descriptive alt text to help people navigate and understand context.
Accessible Forms and Checkout Process
Forms (e.g., checkout, registration) must be easy to complete, with clear instructions and proper labeling. Form errors should be easy to identify, and users should be able to correct them without needing to start over. An accessible “captcha” alternative should be provided for users with disabilities, avoiding methods that require visual or auditory input.
Error Messages and Assistance
Error messages should be descriptive and understandable. For example, instead of “Invalid input,” it should say, “Please enter a valid email address.” Clear help options, such as live chat or contact information, should be readily accessible for users who need assistance during their shopping experience.
Color Contrast and Readability
Developers should consider the readability of text in their online store. They should consider providing sufficient contrast between text and background colors.
Time-Based Interactions
If there are any time limits (e.g., for completing a form or checkout), users should have the option to extend the time or be warned in advance. This is important for users with cognitive or motor disabilities who may need extra time to complete tasks.
Video and Audio Accessibility
All videos should include captions for users with hearing impairments, and audio content should have transcripts. Subtitles for deaf people and sign language features should also be included.
Mobile Accessibility
The mobile version of the e-commerce website should also follow ADA guidelines. All desktop features, such as keyboard navigation, color contrast, and alt text, should be applied to mobile devices, ensuring the site is usable on smaller screens with touch navigation.
Testing for ADA Compliance and Inclusivity
E-commerce ADA compliance can be challenging to achieve. It’s hard to understand what people with disabilities go through when trying to navigate the web. An excellent way to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses with your site and develop a strategy for moving forward is with an e-commerce accessibility audit from WebAccessible.Biz.
We scan every page associated with your brand, evaluating them based on four main principles of accessibility:
Perceivable
All menu and interface elements are accessible.
Operable
Anyone can use the navigation and interface elements.
Understandable
Content, information, and interface are easy to understand.
Robust
All content is compatible with all assistive technologies to accommodate people with disabilities.
We grade the effectiveness and conformity of these principles on your pages, with Level A being the minimum conformance and Level AAA demonstrating you have achieved the highest standard of e-commerce accessibility. Developers and executives can use our reports’ actionable insights and recommendations to identify priority issues that could be addressed immediately to improve ADA compliance. Other less urgent matters can be worked out over time to strengthen their site further and make it more open and usable by people with impairments.
Let Us Help You Achieve E-Commerce ADA Compliance
Making an inclusive and open e-commerce system is a win-win scenario. People with hearing or vision problems can access information and products, while companies gain access to a more extensive customer base. Achieving ADA compliance for your e-commerce is the right thing to do and will protect your brand from potential lawsuits. Find out how well you adhere to standards by ordering a full audit from WebAccessible.Biz today.