Web (ecommerce?) accessibility is not only a social mission anymore. To important social and technical aspects we can now add legal (upcoming EAA) and financial. Early Internet creators and its native users are getting older and expanding the buying group with permanent or temporary disabilities. Learn how to adapt your process to make ecommerce business accessible to all and see that in real numbers. In 2019 consumer companies with inaccessible websites and digital strategies were estimated to lose $6.9 billion annually, so stop loosing money and become accessible.

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Accessible
eCommerce
Increase Revenue With Building

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Accessible
eCommerce
1. Technology

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The most advanced, often not
possible to achieve with certain
web solutions.
AAA
The basic you should be trying
to achieve - it’s the reference for
the majority of legal systems
AA
The minimum
A
Our main guideline is WCAG - Web Content Accessibility Guideline. Its
current version is 2.2. WCAG is an international standard which explains how
to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities.
Guidelines

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right!
That’s
Yes!
Implementing accessibility features makes your code more
understandable to browsers.
Using semantic HTML elements, valid code with alternative
texts, well described interactive elements and microdata is
better recognizable by search engines and robots.
It impacts your SEO results and can increase the
number of feeds. So in this case, accessibility is great if
someone is looking you up on Google.
Does accessibility help with SEO?

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Accessibility is more
than just a web content!
How much does it cost to be not accessible?

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What beyond the web content?
• Call center customer service
• Points of Sale
• Brick-and-mortar solutions
• Digital products

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Accessible
eCommerce
2. Money

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Teams often face tight deadlines. When time is short, they may delay
working on accessibility. However, neglecting accessibility can force teams
to address issues later, which costs more time and money.
How much does it cost to be not accessible?

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How much does it cost to be not accessible?
eCommerce stores are losing out on
6.9 billion dollars
in annual revenues.
According to a study by Nucleus Research Inaccessible

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Too big a number to overlook, yet most
companies still do so. Why?
of the globe's population
are people with various
disabilities.
10%
While focusing on the biggest audience, it's important not to
exclude a certain group of potential customers and
discourage them from making a purchase on your website.
It doesn't matter whether you're in a B2B or B2C
business model, your goal is always the same - to have
the biggest possible outreach to potential
customers and then convince them to become your
clients.
Disabilities globally

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Accessible
eCommerce
3. Ability is temporary

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According to WHO*
or 1 in 6 people worldwide
experience significant disability.
That is about 16% of the population.
80% of disabled people have a
hidden impairment.*
1.3 bilion people
The biggest misconception is that accessibility
focuses only on users with disabilities, but the
truth is that better and more accessible design
and experience are appreciated by most of
society. Hence the User Experience (UX) and
Customer Experience (CX) boom.
Web accessibility is all about making
sure that everyone can use a website,
shop or an app without any issues. Web
accessibility makes internet content
operable and available for users with
diverse abilities and disabilities.
Accessibility is good for everybody!

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Auditory
Cognitive
Speech
Physical
Visual
It is a spectrum of needs, not particular
cases, we need to cover to provide the
best usability experience.
For example, when building a website with vision-impaired users in
mind, we make it more usable in sunlight.
Captions for videos help users with hearing disabilities but they are
also useful for customers who do not speak our language well or
those in noisy spaces without headphones.
It’s like a curb cut - it’s beneficial for people in wheelchairs, parents
with baby strollers, cyclists or skaters.
There are different types of limitations - each of
those can be permanent, temporary or situational.
Accessibility is good for everybody!

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In 2011
46%
In 2021
59%
the number of users in the age group of 55-74
years who ordered goods or services has
increased from
According to Eurostat:
Percentage of users who bought or ordered goods or services for private use in the
previous 12 months by age group, EU, 2011-2021
In recent years we observe a big growth of elderly Internet users,
who are also eCommerce customers.
Society is aging
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
16-24 25-54 55-74

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In 10 years, users in the 25-54 age
group, 80% of whom buy online today,
will likely still be using eCommerce
services.
The older people get, the more health problems they
have. The prevalence of disabilities rises with age.
There are already more users with disabilities who
want to shop online than 10 years ago, and that
number will only increase.
Because elderly people have problems
with hearing, eyesight, movement etc.
which makes them appreciate accessible
websites more.
Why are we talking about aging society in an accessibility context?

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Demographics of online shoppers in Poland
50+
35-49
25-34
15-24
Percentage of online shoppers (%)
15
17
33
35
17
20
33
30
Report 2022 Report 2023
Data from the "E-commerce in Poland 2022" and "E-commerce in Poland 2023" reports.
Gemius, IAB Poland, PBI

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By making your website accessible,
you provide a great user experience
(UX) for all and show that you care
about inclusivity, both factors can
convince customers to choose your
store from the competition.
Every single one of us has unique needs and preferences. We
all use different tools like keyboards, mice, voice recognition,
subtitles (CC) while watching videos on phones, and brighter
screens while using your phone in the daylight. We can say
that all of us have special needs and we all use assistive
technologies (AT).
Becoming inclusive - in this case, creating an
accessible online experience - sets you apart
from your competition.
When going online shopping people want to have a good
experience and feel like the brand they're choosing cares
about them. Numerous consumers consider the company’s
values when making a purchase online and many customers,
Millennials to Gen Zs in particular, favor brands that care
about helping others.
People prefer brands that care

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Accessible
eCommerce
4. Legal

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Is being accessible required by law in US?
In the United States, according to ADA (The Americans with Disability Act),
websites and online stores have to be equally accessible for all users to avoid
discrimination. As a result, since 2018 the number of court cases has grown
progressively. According to UsableNet, there were over 4000 ADA-related
cases in 2022:
USA
The eCommerce industry receives 74%
of ADA digital lawsuits.
To get more information about ADA
lawsuits and its development in the last
5 years I recommend the UsableNet
article: Five years of ADA web and app
lawsuits - key observations and trends.
Number of cases between 2018 and 2022:

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Is being accessible required by law in EU?
At this point, there is no legal obligation for the private sector to obey any laws.
In the European Union, there is an EU Web Accessibility Directive which applies
only to the public sector and the European Accessibility Act (EAA) or EU
Directive 2019/882 which is in the implementation process and applies to
eCommerce, among others. EAA should be fully applied by June 2025.
European Union
Numerous countries have their own law for web accessibility.
To learn more, check W3C law & policies information.
Neither the ADA nor the EAA provides any technical guideline,
they both indirectly refer to WCAG (Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines).

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What about the Netherlands?
- behind schedule as the EAA should have been implemented ultimately on 28
June 2022
- fine of a maximum of €90,000, while the Authority Consumers and Markets
may issue a fine of €900,000 or if the yearly turnover exceeds this amount,
1% or 10% of the yearly turnover
Netherlands
- Dutch Authority for Financial Markets (banking services for
consumers and for financial e-commerce services)
- Civil Service Digital Infrastructure (infrastructure)
- Dutch Media Authority (e-books and services that provide
access to audio-visual media services)
- Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets
(telecommunication services and e-commerce services)
- Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (elements
of passenger transport by plane, bus, train or over water)

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Accessible
eCommerce
5. How to be accessible?

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Improving search results, code
quality and browser support
Providing better usability for all
users
Reducing risk of a digital lawsuit
Encourage elderly customers
Increasing users engagement by
inclusiveness and positive brand
values
Opening for wider audience by not
excluding users with diverse
limitations
Summarizing benefits of eCommerce's accessibility

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The 4 rules of web accessibility
There are 4 main principles that we need to remember while
working on accessibility. Our Web content should be POUR-able:
Perceivable
all users should be able to see
and sense all the information
and features on the website.
Operable
users should be able to use and
navigate the website easily
Understandable
the information as well as all the
features and operation should
be understood by users
Robust
the website should be
compatible with various
assistive technologies and
user agents, and still remain
accessible as technology
evolves.

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How to make your eCommerce more accessible
Accessibility widgets offer
no guarantees!

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How to make your eCommerce more accessible
Raising awareness
and understanding

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How to make your eCommerce more accessible: Continuous Process
• Management
• Customer Service
• Store Managers
• System Architects
• Product Owners
• Tech Teams

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Founder & CEO
kuba@snow.dog
Kuba Zwolinski
Let’s
build
accessible
world
together