E-commerce web accessibility for people with disabilities

Abstract

In recent years online shopping has grown significantly worldwide. As the technology advanced, new techniques such as (HTML 5 and Flash-based content, JavaScript etc.) are used in e-commerce websites to visually present information. However, these new techniques have accessibility problems for people with disabilities when accessed using assistive technology. Therefore, it is also important to adopt web accessibility such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0) in business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce websites to increase the consumer's satisfaction of all ages and with disabilities. This study analyses 30 Australian B2C websites in accordance to WCAG 2.0 using an automated web service. The result shows that B2C websites in Australia are not paying attention to web accessibility for people with disabilities. However, e-commerce will succeed in meeting WCAG 2.0 by making B2C e-commerce websites accessible to consumer of all ages and with disabilities. Recommendations are proposed in order to improve web accessibility for people with sensory (hearing and vision), motor (limited use of hands) and cognition (language and learning) disabilities in B2C e-commerce websites.