Improving the shopping experience for impaired users should be a top priority for your company
NOTE: We are not a legal firm and cannot provide legal advice. All statements herein are solely our opinions. While we intend to further a helpful, informative conversation on this important topic, our observations could be incorrect, out of date or inapplicable to a given situation.
Intro
All online stores need to take seriously the importance of accessibility. By investing in this area, stores treat impaired individuals with dignity by reducing the frustration they face on a daily basis when browsing the internet.
Given the complexity of modern websites and the high degree of subjectivity involved in evaluating accessibility, it is a practical impossibility to achieve a perfect score for accessibility. However, the difference is stark between a website on which this has been given close consideration and one where it has not.
We encourage our customers to put ongoing efforts towards the aim of accessibility, and also to be prepared for legal complaints which may arise, even for companies who are doing a better job than their competitors.
Hitting a Rising Bar
The Nyla Editor is a powerful tool that can be used to create engaging shopping experiences for a range of users. While we strive to encourage usage of best practices, users in the Editor can create with a high degree of freedom, and it's possible to deviate from best practices for accessibility, should a user in the Editor choose to do so.
As with search engine optimization, accessibility is a moving target. Reaching a high numeric score using an online accessibility test may have checked the box in the past, but as more and more websites begin to pay attention to accessibility laws, regulations, best practices, browser / screen reading technology, the bar is automatically raised for everyone.
While periodic updates are very helpful in ensuring that the site is as accessible as possible, it’s best to check any new or updated content to ensure best practices are maintained. Third-party accessibility specialists offer this type of as-needed and ongoing checking in the same way that legal firms provide legal guidance and support.
Limitations
There are a lot of reasons accessibility is challenging for websites. Here are a few examples of types of accessibility best practices that aren't even achievable:
Inherent limitations of the web - Certain accessibility recommendations are not possible given current file formats and browser protocols (such as the need for markup to always be “well-formed”; this is a good idea but is not possible with the SVG format due to the vector information being loaded inline). It is our hope and expectation that as the internet evolves, such limitations will have clever solutions in the future.
Third party limitations - Many of the issues identified in common accessibility tests go beyond our direct control by virtue of being problems imposed by third-party technologies residing on the website.
Opposing best practices - Certain types of commonly called out accessibility issues aren't possible to address without directly violating other usability / accessibility best practices. For instance, hiding certain “accordion” elements in a website (e.g. for product page details) is a common intentional design choice to avoid visual clutter and aid the focus of sighted users toward the most important information on the page.
Overall Recommendations
- Prepare documentation demonstrating ongoing continued attention towards accessibility. Publish this on your site as an official statement. This may help as evidence of attempts toward compliance in the case of any complaints.
- Engage a subject matter expert to advise on best practices and review site changes, ideally prior to deployment, or at least periodically.
- Learn about accessibility over time, and look for ways to provide users with impairments of all kinds with a better experience.