Editor's note: Michael Taylor is blind and shares first-hand accounts of accessibility barriers in everyday digital experiences.
Online shopping does not end at checkout. There is an entire post-order experience that follows every purchase, and much of it is not accessible to assistive technology users like me. In this post I will cover some of the most common accessibility barriers I encounter after an order is placed. As always, screen readers are the primary focus.
We all know them: those pages that appear once an order has been submitted and received by the company. Some online shoppers close them without a second glance. I always navigate through them for two reasons.
First, I record order numbers in a separate document in case I need to reference them later and cannot find or never received the email confirmation. Second, the order confirmation page is often the last place where I can review my purchase and take a screen capture for my records, in case the final delivery is wrong and I need that confirmation as evidence.
These pages tend to be simple, but they carry common accessibility issues. Sometimes the screen reader does not recognize the order confirmation page at all. When I try to navigate, I get repeated error notification sounds indicating nothing on the page is available to focus on. Other times the order number itself is not spoken. I will hear something like "Your Order Number Is: Null," which I believe happens when the order number renders in a graphical font or sits inside an image or text box. Another frustrating issue is when the button that returns users to the main site has no accessible label in the code. When that happens, I have to close the page entirely and reload the site to get back to the homepage.
Almost every online order triggers an instant confirmation email. These emails often contain accessibility flaws that create problems when I try to manage an order.
Action links inside the email, like order tracking, are frequently mislabeled. This forces clunky trial and error to figure out what each link actually does. Many of these emails also include direct access to the company's social media customer service through icon buttons showing each platform's logo. When those icon buttons are not labeled in the code, screen readers do not announce them correctly.
Some confirmation emails also include banner graphics at the top showing the company logo or other images. These often create focus traps as I try to navigate through the email's contents in order.
There is something distinct about the parts of a website that become available only after an order is placed. Many of these pages are only reachable through links in a confirmation email or through a user's account menu. Examples include shipping progress tracking pages, customer service request forms tied to a specific order, product review forms, and customer satisfaction surveys.
Because this functionality only appears after a purchase, these sections are not always included in routine accessibility testing or remediation. As a result, I tend to run into more severe barriers here than almost anywhere else on a site. Common problems include slow, laggy screen reader performance from poorly optimized code, unlabeled or mislabeled elements, image-based interfaces with no alternative text, and in some cases, entire pages with no screen reader accessible elements at all.
The same accessibility standards that apply to the rest of a site must apply to these internal subpages. This is an area where online return and post-order flows tend to fall short in ways that directly affect real users
Online retail is a huge part of the modern digital landscape. As shopping cart and checkout experiences continue to evolve, the post-purchase experience needs to keep pace. We are not there yet. I hope my commentary here and in the other retail accessibility posts helps give companies something concrete to work with, whether they are just starting to think about accessibility or are further along and looking to catch more complex usability gaps. Full inclusivity in retail depends on making progress in these areas.
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.