Eficode survey tells: major accessibility problems in online stores
Helsinki, November 8, 2022. Eficode has carried out an accessibility assessment on 20 European online stores, the findings of which indicate that online shops still have a lot to do in improving the accessibility of their services. New legislation, which is based on the European Accessibility Act, will regulate e-commerce sites, among others, and place obligations on them over the next few years.
The accessibility assessment conducted by Eficode reviewed the purchasing process on e-commerce sites, divided into nine stages. The average score for online shops’ accessibility was 2.7 out of 5. The scoring was on a scale of 0–5 (0 = non-accessible, 5 = accessible).
The following operators had the highest scores:
- Apple: 4.7/5
- Ikea: 4/5
- H&M: 3.7/5
- John Lewis: 3.6/5
The online shops listed above had focused on accessibility and had included it in their online shops’ development processes. However, many online stores still have a lot left to do. In nine online shops, purchases could not be completed using only a keyboard.
Other common tasks with accessibility issues identified in Eficode’s assessment included choosing the color and size settings on product pages and the payment method on the order page. In eight online stores, accepting cookies was not possible with one or more assistive devices. On one site, users had to complete a total of 91 steps to get past product filters.
Eficode evaluated the customer journeys on the e-commerce sites according to WCAG and other criteria. It should be noted that compliance with the WCAG criteria does not automatically mean that an online shop is convenient to use with assistive devices. Eficode’s accessibility assessment revealed that using online shops with assistive devices was generally laborious on all the sites reviewed.
Eficode’s research team of roughly 20 members carried out the accessibility assessment of 20 European e-commerce sites in the spring and summer of 2022 The online shops reviewed were Adlibris, Amazon, Apple, Argos, Auchan, Bol, Carrefour, Cdon, Coolblue, El Corte Inglés, Esselunga, Gigantti, H&M, Ikea, John Lewis, Lidl, Media Markt, Otto, Verkkokauppa.com and Zalando. These online shops did not commission the survey or take part in carrying it out.
Eficode will publish its “20 European e-commerce sites — Accessibility status” report at the #saavuta2022 event on November 15, 2022. More information and registration, in Finnish, at www.eficode.com/saavuta.
The report will be published in English and made available for download on its publication day, November 15, at www.eficode.com/accessibility.
Media contacts
Lauri Palokangas, Chief Marketing Officer, Eficode. lauri.palokangas@eficode.com, +358 50 486 4918
About Eficode
Eficode is Europe’s leading DevOps company and is building the future of user-centered software development in ten countries with the help of over 580 DevOps, service design and software development experts.
Eficode has the strongest team in Finland specializing in accessibility and usability, which consists of accessibility and user experience professionals certified by IAAP and UXQB. We build accessible digital services, and audit and test hundreds of digital services every year
