Keyboard accessibility of product filters on fashion e-commerce websites
Leinonen, Nelli (2023)
2023
Tietojenkäsittelyopin maisteriohjelma - Master's Programme in Computer Science
Informaatioteknologian ja viestinnän tiedekunta - Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2023-10-17
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202310068671
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202310068671
Tiivistelmä
As the e-commerce market and especially the fashion e-commerce is growing, the accessibility of e-commerce websites deserves more attention. This thesis is an expert accessibility evaluation of keyboard accessibility of the product filters on ten leading fashion e-commerce websites in Finland.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 16% of the global population have a disability, and even though not all disabilities affect the usage of information and communication technology, many users are excluded if accessibility is not taken into consideration. Among users with disabilities, the keyboard is a widely supported input method.
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), accessibility legislation like the European Accessibility Act (EAA) and a multitude of accessibility evaluation methods are there for web designers, developers and e-commerce business owners to support them in progress towards a more accessible e-commerce.
At the heart of e-commerce websites, there are product filters. Product filters play a crucial role in narrowing down the extensive product listing or sorting products based on certain features.
The results of this thesis indicate that there is a need for improvement in the accessibility of product filters. Nine out of ten fashion e-commerce websites have severe accessibility errors in their product filters which means that they violate the lowest level of WCAG success criteria and prevent users from using the feature. Even some common product filters are inaccessible on the majority of the studied websites. Improvements can be made, and in addition to improving the accessibility, they could have a positive effect on the user experience.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 16% of the global population have a disability, and even though not all disabilities affect the usage of information and communication technology, many users are excluded if accessibility is not taken into consideration. Among users with disabilities, the keyboard is a widely supported input method.
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), accessibility legislation like the European Accessibility Act (EAA) and a multitude of accessibility evaluation methods are there for web designers, developers and e-commerce business owners to support them in progress towards a more accessible e-commerce.
At the heart of e-commerce websites, there are product filters. Product filters play a crucial role in narrowing down the extensive product listing or sorting products based on certain features.
The results of this thesis indicate that there is a need for improvement in the accessibility of product filters. Nine out of ten fashion e-commerce websites have severe accessibility errors in their product filters which means that they violate the lowest level of WCAG success criteria and prevent users from using the feature. Even some common product filters are inaccessible on the majority of the studied websites. Improvements can be made, and in addition to improving the accessibility, they could have a positive effect on the user experience.