How many online shoppers have disabilities?

About 16% of the global population lives with significant disability (WHO), plus many more with temporary or situational impairments (broken arm, bright sunlight, aging vision). Together, roughly 1 in 6 shoppers faces barriers on an inaccessible store.

Does accessibility really increase e-commerce sales?

Yes — every barrier removed recovers abandoned carts from disabled shoppers, and the same fixes (clear labels, readable contrast, working keyboard flow, fast pages) lift conversion for all shoppers. Accessible UX is simply better UX.

Are online stores legally required to be accessible?

In practice, yes. E-commerce sites are the most common target of US ADA lawsuits, and the EU Accessibility Act (enforceable since June 2025) explicitly covers e-commerce services. WCAG 2.2 AA is the recognized standard.

Where do I start with store accessibility?

Run an automated scan for the baseline, then manually keyboard-test your money path: homepage → product → cart → checkout. Fix that journey first, then expand to account pages, search, and filters.

How to Make Your Online Store Accessible and Sell to 15% More People

Picture a shopper who found your product, wants to buy — and physically cannot check out because your payment form traps their keyboard, your errors say nothing, and your product images are silent. That happens daily to ~1 in 6 shoppers. Every one of those barriers is an abandoned cart you never see in analytics. This playbook fixes your money path step by step. Start with a free Scanly audit for the automated baseline, then work the funnel below. Context: our e-commerce SEO strategy and WCAG 2.2 business guide.

Why 15% is conservative

16% of people live with significant disability (WHO) — your exclusion rate on a broken funnel.
Plus aging shoppers (vision, dexterity), situational limits (one hand, glare, no audio), and keyboard/power users.
Plus the spillover: clear labels and readable contrast convert everyone better.

The 6 funnel fixes

1. Product images everyone can "see"

The lost sale: Shoppers using screen readers hear "image_8472.jpg" instead of the product — they leave.

Fix: Write alt text like a salesperson: "Men's navy waterproof hiking jacket, front zip view". Cover every variant photo; mark decorative badges alt="". Bonus: image-search traffic.

2. Keyboard-completable checkout

The lost sale: If Tab order jumps randomly or the coupon field traps focus, motor-impaired shoppers physically cannot pay.

Fix: Tab through your entire checkout: logical order, visible focus on every field, no traps. Every dropdown, date picker, and payment iframe must work keyboard-only.

3. Forms that explain themselves

The lost sale: "Invalid field" with no indication of which field or why — the top checkout killer for screen-reader and cognitive-disability users.

Fix: Label every field visibly (not placeholder-only), announce errors inline next to the field, and show formats upfront ("MM/YY") instead of punishing mistakes.

4. Contrast on prices, CTAs, and stock status

The lost sale: Gray "Only 2 left" text and pale-green "In stock" badges are invisible to low-vision and color-blind shoppers.

Fix: Hit 4.5:1 on prices and CTAs; never encode meaning by color alone — pair "Out of stock" with an icon or text style, not just red.

5. An accessible cart and promo flow

The lost sale: Cart drawers that screen readers can't find, quantity steppers without labels, promo errors nobody announces.

Fix: Label +/- buttons ("Increase quantity"), announce cart updates via live regions, and confirm promo codes in text ("10% off applied: -$12.00").

6. Captions and transcripts for product video

The lost sale: Uncaptioned demo videos exclude deaf shoppers — and give Google zero indexable content.

Fix: Caption every product video; add a short transcript below. It converts deaf shoppers and ranks the page for long-tail queries.

Test like a customer who can't see the screen

Unplug your mouse. Buy your bestseller keyboard-only — note every trap and invisible focus.
Turn on a free screen reader (NVDA/VoiceOver) and listen to one product page — count the "image" and "click here" dead ends.
Zoom to 200% and complete checkout — overlapping content fails real users daily.
Re-scan with Scanly to confirm, then schedule monthly checks — every theme update can regress.

🛒 Audit My Store Free

Frequently Asked Questions

Will accessibility changes hurt my design?

The opposite — constraints sharpen design. Darker text, bigger targets, and clearer labels test better with all users. No serious brand looks worse after an accessibility pass.

What about Shopify/WooCommerce apps and themes?

Audit the rendered store, not the theme demo — apps inject inaccessible widgets constantly. Our platform audit checklist covers Shopify, WordPress, and Wix specifics.

Conclusion

Accessibility isn't charity — it's recovered revenue. Fix the six funnel barriers, keyboard-test your checkout, and keep auditing. The 15% you're missing is already trying to buy.