Axively

E-commerce accessibility

E-commerce accessibility audit for online shops

For an online shop, accessibility is conversion infrastructure. A customer who cannot choose a size, read an error, operate a cart or finish payment is not only a compliance issue — it is a lost sale. Because e-commerce is explicitly relevant under the European Accessibility Act, checkout flows deserve priority.

Axively crawls public shop pages, highlights WCAG barriers, and helps developers focus on templates and components that affect many products at once.

Audit checklist

  • Product cards and filters are operable by keyboard.
  • Variant selectors, quantity controls and cart buttons have names.
  • Checkout forms have labels, instructions and accessible errors.
  • Modals, drawers and payment widgets manage focus correctly.
  • Price, discounts, stock and delivery information are not color-only.
  • Order confirmation and support links are easy to find.

Start with checkout and account flows

The most important e-commerce accessibility test is whether a user can complete the purchase. Keyboard navigation, focus visibility, form labels, error summaries and payment-widget integration are critical. A perfect blog page does not compensate for a broken checkout.

Many checkout failures come from third-party widgets or custom UI components. The audit should record the affected element, the user impact and a developer-oriented fix path.

Product discovery also matters

Filters, search, pagination, sorting and variant selection are often complex interactive widgets. If they are not announced correctly, customers using assistive technology cannot narrow the catalogue or understand the available options.

  • Filter state and selected options are announced
  • Search suggestions are keyboard accessible
  • Images have useful alternatives where they convey product choice
  • Sale badges and stock status are not color-only

Fix templates before chasing every URL

Large shops can have thousands of product URLs. The smart approach is to test representative templates: category, product detail, cart, checkout, account and support. Fixing a component once can remove the same violation across the entire catalogue.

FAQ

Which e-commerce pages should be tested first?

Test homepage, category pages, product detail pages, cart, checkout, account/login, contact/support and any payment or shipping step that uses custom UI.

Are third-party checkout widgets our responsibility?

If the customer must use the widget to buy from your shop, it affects your user journey. You may need vendor support, configuration changes or an accessible alternative.

Can accessibility improve sales?

Yes. Clear labels, visible focus, usable forms and understandable errors help many users, not only people with permanent disabilities. They reduce friction in the checkout flow.