At the end of last year during the holiday shopping season, I wrote a series of posts covering different areas of retail websites and the accessibility difficulties I encountered in each. A few important topics still remain, and one of the most frustrating areas is the shopping cart, where accessibility barriers often prevent purchases from being completed.
In this post I will focus on common accessibility barriers inside the shopping cart experience. As always, my perspective comes from using a screen reader to shop independently online.In this article
This article explains the most common shopping cart accessibility barriers affecting screen reader users, including managing items, applying promotion codes, and reaching checkout. Many of these problems occur after products are added to the cart and often pass automated testing but still prevent customers from completing a purchase independently.
Shopping carts are also one of the most critical parts of meeting
ecommerce website accessibility requirements.
What Is Shopping Cart Accessibility?
Shopping cart accessibility means shoppers using assistive technology can review items, modify selections, apply discounts, and complete checkout without visual cues. If any of these steps fails, the purchase cannot be completed independently.
Retail accessibility issues most often occur during cart review rather than product discovery because the cart contains dynamic updates, status messages, and multiple action controls.
Managing Items in the Cart
Most retail websites follow the same basic flow. Shoppers discover products, add items to the cart, and then refine selections before checkout. Because of this, many critical interactions happen directly inside the cart.
One common behavior while browsing is adding multiple possible purchases and deciding later. This workflow only works if the cart itself is accessible.
Unlabeled Action Buttons
Modern carts usually include buttons under each product such as:
- Delete item
- Move to wishlist
- Change quantity
These controls often lack proper labels. When that happens, my screen reader either skips them entirely or announces them incorrectly. The result is simple but serious. I cannot modify the contents of my cart.
Retail teams often discover these issues only after testing with tools and real assistive technology because automated scans alone cannot evaluate workflow usability. You can see examples in
common ecommerce accessibility issues.
Missing Variant Information
Products frequently require selections such as size or color before adding them to the cart. However, the cart review often does not announce those selections.
If a shirt comes in ten sizes and six colors, I must know which combination I chose. Without that information spoken aloud, I cannot confirm my purchase or safely change it.
Status Change Notifications That Are Never Announced
Retail systems frequently update item status after it enters the cart. For example:
- Store pickup changes to shipping
- An item goes out of stock
- Additional action becomes required
Websites typically display a small banner message near the product. Screen readers almost never announce these notices. Even manually reviewing the cart rarely moves focus to them.
I often try to continue to checkout only to get blocked by an unresolved issue that the website never communicated to me.
These dynamic behaviors are common during peak shopping periods and become more noticeable during heavy seasonal usage, similar to problems described in my blog on
holiday shopping accessibility.
Promotion Code Accessibility Problems
Promotion code entry is another frequent failure point.
Unlabeled Entry Fields
Sometimes the promotion field is not labeled at all. My screen reader does not detect it, so I cannot even attempt to apply a discount.
Entered Text Is Not Spoken Back
In other cases, the field exists but the screen reader does not read back what I typed. If the code fails, I cannot confirm whether I entered it correctly.
The Apply Button Does Not Work
Many carts require activating an Apply button after entering the code. Often:
- The button is not detectable
- Activating it does nothing
- Focus stays stuck in the text field
At that point, I have no way to redeem the promotion.
Reaching the Checkout
Third-party payment options continue to replace traditional checkout flows. Unfortunately, these options often create new accessibility barriers.
Most carts present payment methods using only logos. Because they are images, they require accessible text labels in the code. Without them, my screen reader announces meaningless terms such as “graphic” or “icon.”
I often hear a normal checkout button followed by the word “or.” After that, navigation produces unrelated content or unreadable icons. The payment option exists visually but not functionally.
This prevents me from using common checkout methods that many retailers encourage customers to use.
Checkout accessibility problems also frequently appear alongside search and navigation barriers described in my blog on retail search accessibility.
Shopping Cart Accessibility FAQ
Why do screen reader users abandon online shopping carts?
Most abandonment occurs when users cannot confirm product details, resolve stock changes, or activate checkout controls. The cart becomes a blocker rather than a review step.
Are shopping cart accessibility problems detected by automated tools?
Often no. Automated tools detect missing code requirements but not workflow failures such as status messages that are never announced or buttons that do nothing when activated. Tools like
automated accessibility testing help identify code issues but still require real user validation.
What WCAG issues appear most in ecommerce checkout?
Common failures include unlabeled buttons, missing live region announcements, inaccessible error messages, and image-only payment options.
Why is the cart more important than product page accessibility?
The cart directly controls revenue. If shoppers reach the cart but cannot complete checkout, the accessibility barrier occurs at the highest-intent moment.
Why Shopping Cart Accessibility Matters
Every online shopping experience depends on the cart. If the cart fails, the purchase fails.
For screen reader shoppers, inaccessible carts create:
- Abandoned purchases
- Incorrect orders
- Inability to apply discounts
- Blocked checkout
Retailers often audit product pages but overlook the cart workflow. However, the cart determines whether a shopper can complete a purchase at all.
Teams that want to address these barriers typically need both technical fixes and ongoing support, which is why organizations implement broader e-commerce accessibility solutions.
If you are working to build a business case for accessibility in 2026, you can register to receive the 2025 lawsuit report data here.
This is a guest post from our marketing contributor, Michael Taylor. It reflects his opinions and experiences. Read more about Michael and some other posts on his experience online here.
