Ecommerce is an arena densely populated by highly successful digital companies, hopeful entrepreneurs and many individuals looking to make a quick buck.
At the heart of the industry lies the customers, the millions of online shoppers who take to the internet every day to score themselves the perfect deal.
While ecommerce is famed by some for its global connectivity and potentially fast turnaround, it is not always as accessible as it should be.
If you feel like you could be doing more to make your own ecommerce enterprise more accessible, here are some important points to check out.
Introduce Audio Descriptions
Various (and shockingly large) accessibility gaps make themselves known when the virtual world is examined closely, gaps that need to be closed by businesses who wish to make their brand more inclusive.
Championing diversity and inclusion means putting measures in place to support your own disabled customers.
A great place to start is by introducing a concise audio description of your products, as this can aid those who have a sight impairment to enjoy your products equally.
If you rely too heavily on visuals to present your products, you may be inadvertently locking out customers who do not benefit from images.
The technology exists and considering the immense support it can provide to people with disabilities, it is exceptionally cost-effective.
Use an Appropriate Website Theme
While many of the best CMS (content management systems) endeavor to support accessibility options, the same cannot always be said of the website themes on offer.
As an ecommerce business, your website is the hub of bustling activity, the digital store that your customers should feel comfortable to shop inside, just like the in-person variety.
A few points to consider in this regard include:
- Navigation – How hard is it for your customers to navigate your sitemap? The easier they can reach your products, the higher the likelihood you can sell them!
- Color Scheme – A distracting, overly complicated or downright ugly color scheme may have more ramifications than one initially expects, so choosing the right colors, or at least, offering users the option to change the color scheme to fit their needs should be a priority.
- Compatibility – Optimizing your website for voice search is a must in terms of increasing compatibility and accessibility. Plus, it helps out your SEO efforts.
Get on the Right Page
If your product links open to entirely new tabs, customers with visual impairments might have a difficult time keeping up.
Moreover, this can be (but is not always) a big inconvenience for your users, no matter their personal situation.
For example, it can look fairly suspicious, as though you are sending them away from the website to follow a malicious link.
Keeping your links inside the main website is one way to try and get around this negative outcome. Use direct checkout plugin to make the process easier for your customers.
Embrace Clarity
Presenting your information with clarity and designing your site in a way that makes it easy to understand is a god way to provide solid foundations for your users to operate on, so don’t hesitate to do a little virtual spring cleaning if needs be.
