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January 07 2008
Welcome to retail.com, no wheelchairs please
A Webcredible report reveals mixed results for top UK retailers and highlights the need for retailers to move to the next level of online accessibility for disabled users
An investigation into the accessibility of 20 of the UK’s top retailers websites has shown that whilst most sites achieve a basic level of accessibility for disabled internet users there is still much more that needs to be done to improve standards and meet legal requirements. The study, conducted by online usability and accessibility consultants Webcredible , discovered that a prevailing failure amongst sites was poor accessibility at the checkout stage. This highlights the fact that organisations are still failing to maximise the commercial opportunities available by making sites fully available to users with disabilities. In the worst cases, the report shows that websites are failing to meet the legal requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act.
The top 5 ecommerce websites received the following scores in total, out of 100:
Website Total score
-
H.Samuel (www.hsamuel.co.uk)
76
- HMV (www.hmv.co.uk)
75
- B&Q (www.diy.com)
74
- John Lewis (www.johnlewis.com) 73
- Argos (www.argos.co.uk) 72
The bottom five
- WHSmith (www.whsmith.co.uk) 41
- Boots (www.boots.co.uk) 37
- Debenhams (www.debenhams.com) 37
- Early Learning Centre (www.elc.co.uk) 36
- Currys (www.currys.co.uk) 34
Webcredible’s report ‘The Accessibility for Ecommerce High Street Retailers 2007’ details where retailers are succeeding in providing good accessibility for disabled users and where they are failing. The report also gives guidance to online retailers and helps them to understand how they can improve their sites and make them accessible to users with a broad range of disabilities. These include: Highlighting links to aid non-mouse users, not assigning descriptive ALT text to a decorative image so that unnecessary text isn’t read to blind users and providing ‘skip links’ to help users get to the main content more easily.
Trenton Moss, director of Webcredible commented on the results, “Some sites have clearly made a concerted effort to address accessibility and an overall average score of 57 is much improved. But some, including some of the best performers, let themselves down through sloppiness. For example, accessibility guidelines are adhered to on most pages but then not on other key sections. Surprisingly, the checkout processes were generally poor. There’s no point in a site being accessible if when you get to the checkout there’s a ‘show-stopper’ in there and users can’t continue. These retailers have made important progress but need to evaluate their sites and assess how they progress to the next level of accessibility competence and provide a fully comprehensive service.”
Moss concludes,
“Unfortunately, certain retailers performed very badly, failing to register any points in multiple categories. Seven of the 20 companies surveyed scored less than 50 points which means they are failing to meet the legal requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act. These companies need to take a serious look at how they approach ecommerce and whether they are treating disabled access seriously.”
It might seem very trite to mention this here, but most internet retail sites still leave a lot to be desired in catering for non-disabled users, and if they can’t get their act together for non-disabled users what hope to disabled users have. Let’s hope that 2008 marks the year when retailers really get their act together and start to think of users first. By ignoring disabled users you reduce your market by a significant amount, according to Webcredible there are 8.6 million disabled people of working age in the UK, with an estimated combined spending power of up to £80 billion. Furthermore, research indicates that disabled users under 65 use the web as frequently as non-disabled users whilst those under 45 use the web more frequently. Can you afford to waste that potential revenue?
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