Why has digital accessibility become a priority for businesses and how can it help improve the user experience for everyone? Find out how to make your websites accessible and inclusive with our practical tips.
A question arises, as e-commerce players, why should we adopt this bold vision of a website that welcomes all visitors with kindness, regardless of disability or other difference?
Indeed, digital accessibility in France has become a concern not only for society but also for companies working in the web and new technologies business.
It is by welcoming this inclusive approach that e-commerce players must guarantee each user to navigate, understand and interact digitally.
What is digital accessibility ?
Accessibility aims to allow all people, including users with disabilities, to use and interact with technologies, products, services and environments independently and without encountering barriers.
It is in an inclusive approach and in order to meet this need that “technological assistants” such as screen readers, keyboards and alternative mice, have been adapted.
As e-commerce players, incorporating accessibility into the development of products, web services and applications must become an essential step in the design phase in order to guarantee this service to everyone without making distinctions.
Are there mandatory standards to follow to ensure digital accessibility?
Internationally, there are accessibility standards defined by international organizations such as the World Wide Web Consortium and the International Code Council.
They include criteria such as taking into account the needs of blind or visually impaired users:
- The ability to control interface elements by using a keyboard
- The ability to customize colors, fonts, etc.
As e-commerce or digital companies, why be interested in accessibility? What are the added values?
Accessibility on the web is a crucial issue to ensure equal access to information for all users, regardless of their physical, cognitive or technical abilities.
By making websites accessible and inclusive, businesses can not only provide fair service to all, but also seize the opportunity to expand their target market and improve the user experience for all of their customers.
For people with disabilities:
Entre 15 à 20% de la population mondiale est porteur d’une forme de handicap, l’accessibilité sur le web est donc importante pour une proportion significative de la population. Le e-commerce continue de croître, étant en évolution constante, il est donc possible que le nombre de e-acheteurs qui utilisent l’accessibilité augmentera également.
For the elderly :
It is important to keep in mind that accessibility on the web also benefits a wider audience than people with disabilities, such as elderly people, users of small screens, and people who need temporary assistance can also need accessibility.
How to effectively integrate digital accessibility into your UX/UI approach?
UX/UI (user experience/user interface) are essential concepts when designing websites or applications. Accessibility intervenes and plays an important role in this interface creation phase.
Accessibility on the web therefore works by using technologies and development practices that allow users an explicit and adapted user journey.
Here are some examples of how accessibility works on the web:
- Whether on a website or a mobile application, navigation should be intuitive and consistent, with for example clearly labeled buttons and links.
- Image descriptors and media captions that help visually impaired users understand visual content.
- There are alternative navigation techniques like drop-down menus for users with reading disabilities.
It is also important to specify that accessibility on the web is a constantly evolving process. Standards and best practices are constantly evolving to adapt to new technologies and user needs.
Web developers must be aware of these developments and seek to incorporate them into their development techniques in order to preserve an accessible and functional user experience for all.
Zoom on the link between accessibility and new technologies
Beyond the web, accessibility is an essential part of the innovation and new technologies sector.
New technologies such as voice recognition, augmented reality and virtual reality offer new ways to interact with online content for people with disabilities, which can improve their user experience.
We can take the example of voice recognition, which allows blind or visually impaired people to interact with online content more intuitively and without the need for a mouse or keyboard.
Accessibility at World Sellers, the Jacadi Israel case:
Thanks to the creation of the jacadi.co.il site, we were able to test and implement a high-performance web accessibility management module, developed by EqualWeb! This module specially adapted for Hebrew in right-to-left and also mobile first with its responsive mode, it is a powerful tool to facilitate online browsing.
Unlike in Europe, where laws on accessibility of websites and mobile applications only concern public sector bodies, Israeli legislation on the equality of persons with disabilities imposes accessibility requirements on all websites. and mobile applications, whether public or private.
Accessibility being in full swing, it is not yet “the norm” for all countries, however World Sellers has the technical skills necessary to personalize its websites and make them accessible to all e-shopper profiles.