Online Shopping: Designing an Accessible Experience
Summary
Online shopping was first premiered in the 1980s, as a way for people who couldn’t shop in-person to easily make purchases. But how far we’ve come! In this talk, Fable’s Accessibility Evangelist Sam Proulx will walk you through some of the key factors to create an online shopping experience that is accessible to everyone. From his perspective as a full time screen reader user, and drawing on Fable’s thousands of hours working with people with disabilities, Sam will highlight how consistency, convenience, confidence, and customizability enable a smooth experience for all users, disabled or not. Let’s bring online shopping back to its accessibility roots!
Key Insights
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Consistency in online shopping sites aids muscle memory, making shopping easier for screen reader users even when accessibility is imperfect.
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Offering multiple payment methods such as PayPal and Apple Pay greatly increases convenience and accessibility for users with vision or physical impairments.
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Autofill functionality not only benefits most users but is critical for assistive technology users who rely on properly labeled form fields.
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Avoiding strictly timed interactions reduces stress and checkout abandonment, especially for users with cognitive disabilities or slower assistive technology navigation.
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Confidence in online transactions is crucial; unclear or unlabeled controls cause users with disabilities to abandon purchases and switch to competitors.
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People with disabilities often prefer to pay a premium at accessible stores for the assurance and ease of use they offer.
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Customizability, including support for various devices, input methods, and communication channels, improves accessibility and overall user experience.
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Automated accessibility testing tools cannot measure user experience or impact; engaging people with disabilities in research is necessary.
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Two-factor authentication can be made much more accessible by providing multiple verification methods and longer code timeouts.
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Accessibility efforts align with business goals by driving customer loyalty, reducing abandonment, and leveraging spending power of people with disabilities.
Notable Quotes
"The four Cs—consistency, convenience, confidence, and customizability—are not just good for accessibility, they make a great experience for everyone."
"Sometimes accessibility isn’t perfect, but consistency lets me shop on Amazon in my sleep because of muscle memory."
"Multiple payment providers aren’t just a feature; they’re an accessibility lifeline for people who can’t read or reach their credit card easily."
"Avoid strictly timed interactions because they stress everyone, especially people using screen readers or with cognitive disabilities."
"Confidence is critical in online shopping because nobody wants to spend money they’re unsure about losing due to unclear controls."
"People with disabilities often pay more to buy from stores they trust are accessible and where they feel confident."
"Involving people with disabilities from the start reveals impact and usability issues that automated testing simply cannot catch."
"A good two-factor system offers multiple methods, like authenticator apps, calls, and texts, with generous timeouts."
"If you build accessible shopping with these four keys, compliance with legal standards like WCAG will naturally fall into place."
"Accessibility is a journey and a conversation—thanks for starting yours by being here today."
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