The forthcoming EAA gives the impetus to move away from usability and embrace accessibility

By Matt Sherwen, Managing Director of Sherwen Studios

In just a few weeks, the European Accessibility Act (EAA) will come into force. This mandates that any retailer trading across the EU will need to be fully accessible for all users across their online and digital elements. The Act will cover everything from websites and mobile apps to electronic documents and even in-store self-service checkouts.

The EAA legislation will play a crucial role in ensuring equal digital access for everyone, including people with visual impairments, hearing loss, mobility limitations, and cognitive differences.

Although the EAA is specifically for those working within the EU, we think that it makes perfect business sense to apply to UK retailers, many of whom still struggle to deliver truly inclusive online shopping experiences. With more than 16 million people living in the UK with a disability, it is believed that the spending power of the so-called purple pound could be as much as £274 billion a year.

That’s a huge proportion of shoppers that retailers could, and should, be catering to.

Traditionally, retailers have approached digital projects by prioritising usability. We want to advocate for a shift in mindset, one where accessibility becomes the greater priority. After all, making shopping platforms (whether that’s websites, apps or social commerce channels) more accessible will be beneficial for everyone, not just individual user groups.

From navigating complex websites to understanding product information, the digital shopping experience is filled with unintended barriers that could prevent users from completing their transactions.

• Time-limited checkouts may exacerbate some issues when it comes to abandoned carts. If a shopper needs additional time to pass through the checkout process, they may become overwhelmed or unable to complete their purchase.
• Retailers using third-party software or plugins may not be routinely checking to see if their platforms are fully integrated with a range of assistive technologies. Conflicts with screen readers, magnifiers, voice recognition software and colour contrast adjuster can cause significant issues for some users.
• Many businesses may rely on automation tools to insert image descriptions, alt tags, product details and video captions to save time on manual tasks. However, those descriptions may not be 100% accurate.
• Automated customer service chatbots could make it much harder for customers to get in touch with a human customer service agent. Relying on a default text-based filter could block users with visual limitations or reading difficulties from seeking help and support.
• Image carousels, animation and video integration could cause an overload of visual “noise” for some users.
• Contact forms (such as newsletter sign-ups and payment checkouts) should be improved through clearer date accessibility, larger form boxes with clearly identified labels and better integration with keyboard and speech navigation.

To improve the overall customer experience, it’s crucial to invest in detailed behaviour tracking so you can identify any clear pain points that disabled user groups might face. By prioritising accessibility and considering it as a strategic essential it becomes easier to deliver personalised and custom experiences that meet the needs of every single user, every single time.

The good news for retailers is that many of these issues are relatively simple fixes.

Improving digital accessibility isn’t about investing in entirely new platforms, it’s about taking time to think about how disabled and neurodiverse shoppers might have unique user behaviours that need to be catered for. It’s about truly understanding who your users are and taking every step possible to overcome their pain points and improve the overall experience.

Image courtesy of iStock. Supplied by Sherwen Studios.