From Compliance to Decision Confidence: A Scoping Review of Accessible E-Commerce for Blind and Low-Vision People

Abstract

Accessible e-commerce hinges on decision confidence: judging product suitability and transaction risk well enough to buy or sell without ad hoc sighted assistance. We present a scoping review synthesizing 21 studies (14 direct, 7 adjacent) on accessibility for blind and low-vision (BLV) shoppers and sellers. We derive four challenge clusters (visual content, navigation, fulfillment, trust) mapped onto five research approaches. Key gaps emerge: seller-side workflows are rarely supported by technical interventions (only 1/14 direct papers presents a seller-focused system), GenAI remains untested for seller tasks like product photography, and trust verification relies on user strategies rather than systematized tools. Excluding BLV people from selling limits entrepreneurship and gig economy participation. We contribute a thematic framework, a challenge-approach matrix, and a research agenda.