Labor Day is often seen as the unofficial end of summer in the U.S. (meteorological summer runs June 1 through August 31). The days feel shorter, the mornings are crisper, and fall is in the air.
As the season wraps, I want to share a few accessibility observations from my own digital use over the past few months. These opportunities arose while traveling, attending a game, enjoying live music, and shopping for seasonal sales online. Each example reflects a real barrier I encountered as a screen reader user.
QR Codes
QR codes are everywhere now. This summer, I saw them paying restaurant bills, requesting housekeeping services, buying tickets for outdoor events, and more.
My experience was mixed at best. Many QR-linked pages caused screen reader lag or froze outright. I ran into unlabeled text fields and action buttons. A few pages did not register with my screen reader at all, which ended the task.
One example: a resort restaurant used QR codes for table-side bill pay. I could hear the itemized check. None of the action items worked with the screen reader. I was unable to charge the meal to the room or enter my card details. That ended the experience.
I suspect QR destinations often reside outside the core website template, so they miss out on the testing and fixes that the main site receives.
What helps
Reuse the same accessible components as the main site for QR flows.
Ensure buttons, links, and inputs have clear accessible names and roles.
Keep focus visible and predictable when modals open.
Test the entire flow with VoiceOver and TalkBack on real devices.
Related resource: If you want to see how I navigate and test real tasks, read Accessibility Insights: A Screen Reader User’s Guide.
Most events now use digital tickets. Accessibility remains a challenge in 2025.
Many tickets arrive as image-based PDFs that my screen reader cannot interpret. That makes it impossible to confirm seat numbers, rows, times, and locations.
Some platforms require activating a visual element to prove a ticket is valid and not a screenshot. If the control is not programmatically labeled and focusable, I cannot trigger it. When tickets arrive by email, the “View” or “Download” button is sometimes unlabeled, making it harder to save the file than necessary.
What helps
Prefer accessible HTML tickets over image-based PDFs. If PDFs are required, tag them properly.
Provide a clearly labeled control that programmatically triggers any dynamic validation.
Include plain-text details in the email body: event name, date, time, seat, row, and venue.
Offer an alternate check-in path staff can use when the visual effect fails.
Read the blog: Navigating Accessibility Challenges on Mobile Event Ticket Websites
I did not shop a lot, but I browsed July 4th and Memorial Day sales. I often enter a site through promotional email links. Those deep links frequently behaved worse than navigating from the homepage.
Common issues included several-second delays between key presses and speech, and the screen reader's focus jumping back to the top of the page. I might be reading a product description or reviews and suddenly lose my place. When I navigate in from the homepage, I usually do not see the same problems.
What helps
Keep deep-linked landing pages on the same components and performance budget as core PDPs and PLPs.
Avoid heavy client-side re-renders that reset focus. Preserve position when content updates.
Provide “Skip to content” and clear landmarks so returning to a section is easy.
Monitor screen reader lag during QA and treat it as a blocking defect.
For retailers: Practical fixes and priorities for ecommerce teams.
Read Ecommerce Website Accessibility →
QR code flows are convenient but often bypass tested, accessible templates.
Image-based tickets and unlabeled controls still block entry for assistive technology.
Deep links from marketing emails can behave differently from the main site and often perform worse for screen readers.
Reusing accessible components and testing complete task flows on mobile with VoiceOver and TalkBack makes a visible difference for real customers.
Quick check: EAA and ADA compliance starts with testing.
Check your site’s accessibility now →
Looking back at summer 2025, many of the same issues persist. The hope is simple. If teams apply consistent components, test like real customers, and fix focus and labeling, next summer can feel very different.