Why Ecommerce Website Accessibility Matters
When a customer can't read your product descriptions, navigate your menu with a keyboard, or complete checkout using a screen reader, they leave. They take their money with them.
E-commerce website accessibility has shifted from nice-to-have to business imperative. Retailers face mounting legal pressure, evolving customer expectations, and a simple reality: inaccessible websites lose sales.
In 2025 alone, more than 5,000 ADA digital accessibility lawsuits were filed in the United States. Ecommerce represented the largest share across all industries. But beyond compliance, accessibility directly impacts your bottom line—affecting conversion rates, customer loyalty, and your ability to compete.
This guide covers everything you need: the standards to follow, the problems that trip up most retailers, and the practical steps to build an ecommerce experience that works for every customer.
Understanding Ecommerce Accessibility Standards
Accessibility standards are concrete. Most retailers rely on established frameworks to design, evaluate, and maintain accessible sites.
WCAG: The Technical Foundation
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) provide the technical benchmark. WCAG is organized around four principles: content must be perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust.
Three conformance levels exist: A (minimum), AA (mid-range), and AAA (highest).
Most organizations target WCAG 2.1 Level AA or the newer WCAG 2.2 Level AA. These levels address the majority of customer barriers without requiring extensive technical overhauls.
ADA Compliance for Ecommerce (United States)
The Americans with Disabilities Act doesn't explicitly mention websites. Courts have consistently ruled that ecommerce sites qualify as public accommodations.
U.S. retailers must ensure customers with disabilities can independently browse products, add items to cart, and complete checkout.
The ADA doesn't specify technical requirements. Courts and the Department of Justice regularly reference WCAG as the standard for compliance. If your site doesn't meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA, you're operating with heightened legal risk.
European Accessibility Act (EAA)
Sell to customers in the European Union? Accessibility requirements apply regardless of where your business is headquartered.
The EAA takes effect in June 2025. It mandates that ecommerce services—such as websites, mobile apps, and checkout processes—meet accessibility standards. Non-compliance can result in fines and restrictions on doing business in EU markets.
Accessibility Requirements in Canada
Canada has significantly strengthened its digital accessibility enforcement. Ontario's Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) includes fines for non-compliance. The federal Accessible Canada Act introduces clearer expectations for websites, apps, and digital documents.
For retailers serving Canadian customers, accessibility is an operational requirement backed by financial penalties.
Why WCAG Works as a Global Baseline
WCAG is referenced across jurisdictions. Using it as your foundation helps you meet expectations in multiple markets without maintaining separate standards for each region.
The Business Case for Accessibility
Improving accessibility unlocks growth.
Reach a Larger Audience
More than 1 billion people worldwide live with disabilities. In the United States alone, that's roughly 61 million adults. Many rely on assistive technologies like screen readers, voice recognition software, or alternative keyboards to shop online.
Accessible websites remove barriers and expand your addressable market.
Recover Revenue Left on the Table
Most accessibility problems surface in high-impact areas: product pages with vague descriptions, forms with unlabeled fields, checkout flows with keyboard traps.
These are conversion killers. Fixing them often leads to measurably faster checkouts, fewer form errors, and higher completion rates across all customer segments.
Reduce Legal and Compliance Risk
Proactive accessibility improvements lower your exposure to complaints and lawsuits. While accessibility never guarantees protection from litigation, demonstrating good-faith efforts and ongoing monitoring significantly reduces risk.
Improve Experience for Everyone
Clear labels, readable text, logical navigation, and predictable interactions help everyone. Customers on mobile devices, older adults, people in low-bandwidth environments, and shoppers multitasking all benefit from accessible design.
Accessibility strengthens both inclusion and business performance.
Common Ecommerce Accessibility Challenges
Even well-intentioned retailers struggle with recurring problems. Understanding these patterns helps you spot issues before they affect customers.
Navigation That Excludes Keyboard Users
Many ecommerce sites rely on hover-triggered dropdowns, drag-and-drop interfaces, or mouse-only interactions. For customers who navigate with a keyboard or voice commands, this makes basic browsing impossible.
What goes wrong: Mega menus that don't open with the keyboard. Missing focus indicators. An illogical tab order that jumps unpredictably across the page.
Why it matters: If customers can't navigate your category structure, they can't find products to buy.
Product Pages Missing Critical Information
Images without alternative text create barriers. Color-coded options without labels (like "select blue" with no text) cause problems. Vague product descriptions frustrate screen reader users and customers with low vision.
What goes wrong: A product image labeled "IMG_4857.jpg" instead of "black leather ankle boots with side zipper." A size selector that only uses visual swatches.
Why it matters: Customers need to understand what they're buying. Unclear product information leads to returns, support inquiries, and lost sales.
Checkout Flows That Break Down
Checkout is where accessibility problems become expensive.
Unlabeled form fields. Error messages that don't announce to screen readers. Inaccessible CAPTCHA verification. Payment widgets that trap keyboard focus. Required fields without clear indicators.
What goes wrong: A customer fills out a form, hits submit, and receives a generic "fix errors" message without knowing which fields failed or why.
Why it matters: Every abandoned checkout is lost revenue. Accessibility barriers in checkout directly reduce conversion rates.
How to Evaluate Your Ecommerce Website Accessibility
Most organizations need three approaches: automated scanning, manual testing, and expert evaluation.
Automated Testing
Automated tools catch technical violations quickly. Missing alt text. Insufficient color contrast. Form fields without labels.
They're efficient and scalable. They only identify about 30-40% of accessibility issues.
When to use it: Initial assessments. Continuous monitoring. Regression testing during development.
Manual Testing
Manual testing reveals real-world usability barriers that automated scans miss. Confusing navigation. Illogical reading order. Interactions that technically pass WCAG but still create friction.
When to use it: Evaluating complex workflows (checkout, account creation). Verifying fixes. Understanding how real users experience your site.
Expert Review
Accessibility specialists prioritize issues based on business impact, user experience, and compliance risk. They help you focus remediation efforts where they'll make the biggest difference.
When to use it: Starting an accessibility program. Preparing for a redesign. Addressing legal concerns. Building a roadmap.
Additional resources: Ecommerce Digital Accessibility Guidance
Ecommerce Accessibility Best Practices
Accessibility works best when it's integrated into how you already operate.
1. Start with an Expert Assessment
Don't guess where you stand. A professional accessibility audit identifies your highest-priority issues, helps you understand legal risk, and creates a roadmap based on business impact.
2. Prioritize High-Traffic and High-Value Pages
You don't need to fix everything at once. Focus first on the pages that drive the most revenue: the homepage, category pages, product detail pages, the cart, and checkout.
Improvements here have an immediate business impact.
3. Test with Real Assistive Technologies
Automated tools can't replicate what it's like to navigate your site with a screen reader or voice commands. Testing with NVDA, JAWS, VoiceOver, or Dragon NaturallySpeaking reveals friction points you'd otherwise miss.
4. Build Accessibility into Design and Development Workflows
Retrofitting accessibility is expensive. Including it from the start—through accessible design systems, component libraries, and QA checklists—prevents problems before they reach production.
5. Monitor Continuously
Ecommerce sites change constantly. New products launch. Promotional campaigns go live. Third-party tools get updated.
Continuous monitoring ensures accessibility doesn't degrade as your site evolves.
6. Treat Accessibility Like Security or Performance
You wouldn't launch a feature without testing performance or security. Accessibility deserves the same rigor. It's a baseline expectation.
Frequently Asked Questions About Ecommerce Accessibility
Does ADA compliance apply differently to large retailers versus small ecommerce businesses?
No. ADA compliance expectations apply regardless of company size. There's no revenue threshold or employee count exemption. Small businesses face the same legal obligations as enterprise retailers. They're frequently targeted in lawsuits because they're perceived as easier settlements.
What are the most overlooked accessibility issues on ecommerce websites?
Navigation that requires a mouse. Missing or generic image descriptions (like "product image" instead of "navy blue v-neck sweater"). Unlabeled form fields. Low-contrast text. Inaccessible third-party checkout tools. Product PDFs that aren't screen-reader friendly.
Is accessibility a one-time project or an ongoing responsibility?
Ongoing. Ecommerce sites are living systems. Content changes. Features launch. Third-party integrations update. What's accessible today can break tomorrow without monitoring.
Treat accessibility as a continuous practice.
Moving Forward: Accessibility as an Ongoing Practice
Accessibility is how you build sustainable, inclusive ecommerce experiences.
When customers can browse your catalog, understand product details, and complete purchases independently, everyone benefits. Conversion rates improve. Support costs decrease. You reach customers who were previously excluded.
The retailers who treat accessibility as part of everyday operations build better products, stronger customer relationships, and more resilient businesses.
Start with an assessment. Prioritize high-impact pages. Test with real users. Monitor continuously. Small, consistent improvements compound quickly.
Get started:
- Request a professional accessibility assessment to identify high-priority issues and build your roadmap
- Download the 2025 ADA lawsuit report to see industry trends and plan for 2026
- Test the accessibility of your website for free! Try UsableNet AQA. Test now!
