A Guide to Magento Accessibility and ADA Compliance

As one of the world’s most popular eCommerce platforms(opens in a new tab), Magento (now Adobe Commerce) is used by hundreds of thousands of businesses, including Nike and Samsung.

Whether you already have a store with Magento or you’re considering migrating from another platform, your eCommerce site needs to be accessible to people with disabilities — and compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act(opens in a new tab) (ADA). 

Below, we’ll discuss why accessibility is important for eCommerce sites and share tips on making your site more accessible to everyone, regardless of ability.

What is Magento ADA Compliance?

Enacted in 1990, the ADA was the world’s first comprehensive civil rights law(opens in a new tab) for people with disabilities. It was designed to ensure individuals with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities available to them as everyone else and to prohibit discrimination against these individuals in places of public accommodation. As technology has evolved, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has repeatedly stated that online spaces such as websites are considered public places. 

With the enactment of the ADA, people with disabilities can file lawsuits against businesses that fail to provide accessible digital experiences, including websites and mobile apps. For digital content to be accessible, it must conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines(opens in a new tab) (WCAG), which we’ll review in more detail below. And as the number of web accessibility lawsuits continues to rise every year, it’s more important than ever for eCommerce websites to provide an accessible experience.

Why? For starters, online stores generally have poor accessibility. A study conducted by AudioEye in 2023 found that online retailers performed worse than average in key areas of accessibility, including image and form accessibility—both of which impact people’s ability to compare products or fill out a checkout form. 

To help retailers deliver an accessible experience to every shopper, the World Wide Web Consortium(opens in a new tab) (W3C) created WCAG, which includes a series of technical rules for creating accessible websites.

Understanding WCAG Levels

WCAG includes three conformance levels (conformance means that a business voluntarily follows the guidelines). These levels include:

• Level A: This is the most basic level of accessibility. Level A websites are usable for most people with disabilities but may not provide a great experience for users. 

• Level AA: This is a reasonable level of accessibility. Level AA includes all Level A success criteria and adds additional requirements.

• Level AAA: This is the most strict level of accessibility. Some types of content cannot meet all Level AAA requirements. Level AAA includes all Level A and Level AA success criteria.

To be compliant with the ADA, your Magento store must conform with WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards. If your Magento store fails WCAG’s Level A or AA requirements, you’ll need to address those issues as soon as possible. Wherever possible, strive to incorporate as many Level AAA success criteria as possible so you can provide the best possible user experience.

For a more detailed description of WCAG’s levels, read WCAG 2.1 Compliance, Explained.

Do E-commerce Websites Need to be ADA-Compliant?

Yes, all eCommerce websites — including Magento sites — must comply with the ADA. 

Here’s the bottom line: To create an ADA-compliant Magento store, you’ll need to test against WCAG. Though the ADA uses WCAG 2.1 to measure compliance, the best practice is to use the latest version of the guidelines (currently, WCAG 2.2).

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, don’t worry. WCAG enforces the best practices of web design, and testing your content is fairly straightforward.

Examples of WCAG and ADA Compliance

Remember, the purpose of the ADA is to ensure that consumers with disabilities enjoy the same access to goods and services as consumers without disabilities. WCAG uses four principles to help website owners reach that goal.

Websites that follow ADA compliance guidelines include accessibility features such as:

• Alternative text: Also called alt text, the feature helps users with visual impairments or assistive technology users understand non-text content like images (something your Magento site is probably full of). For example, a picture of a t-shirt should include an accurate description of the item (including relevant details like colors and logos) so that users with visual impairments can decide whether to purchase the product.

• Keyboard accessibility: Not all users who come to your Magento site are using a mouse to navigate it. You’ll need to ensure your site is navigable by keyboard alone.

• Clear form labels and instructions: Without clear instructions and labels, users might struggle to complete your store’s checkout process.

• Captions and transcripts: If you use video content to promote your latest products or services and don’t include captions or transcripts, you’re excluding individuals with auditory or sensory disabilities from interacting with your content.

• Proper use of semantic HTML: If your Magento pages are structured with improper semantic HTML, it can make navigation difficult for assistive technology users. 

• Sufficient color contrast: Without good color contrast, the items you’re selling on Magento might look dull (or even be invisible) to users with vision impairments, such as color blindness or low vision.

• Clear error messages: If your error messages aren’t clear or descriptive enough, it may be difficult for assistive technology users or those with cognitive impairments to resolve the error. For example, if a shopper makes a mistake in your checkout process, be sure it includes descriptive instructions on resolving it.

An accessible Magento store will avoid the common barriers that impact internet users with disabilities. Check out these 10 examples of actual businesses that have included WCAG success criteria in their websites.

The barriers above aren’t a comprehensive list of ADA compliance issues. Only by testing your content against all WCAG Level A and AA success criteria can you determine whether your Magento site is ADA-compliant or not.

audit your website, manually audit and fix issues, monitor ongoing accessibility

How to Make Your Magento Website Accessible

Most eCommerce platforms, including Magento and Shopify, start with basic accessibility features and guidelines. However, for your site to be truly accessible, you need to keep your actual users in mind. If you don’t keep your users with disabilities in mind — or accessibility in general — it’s unlikely your website will be fully compliant or provide a positive user experience to assistive technology users. 

For example, Adobe’s developer guidelines recommend providing text alternatives for non-text content. Image alternative text is crucial for accessibility, but writing accurate text requires some judgment: You’ll need to ensure that each description is descriptive enough to explain the function of the image. 

Additionally, adding animations, installing certain Magento plugins, or introducing pop-up offers could impact accessibility. Even if you follow Magento’s guidelines, you may not achieve compliance unless you test your online store against WCAG. 

By auditing your website — and thinking carefully about your users when creating new content — you can avoid the common mistakes that impact users with disabilities.

Audit Your Website

There are two basic ways to test web content for accessibility:

1. Automated tests check content against WCAG using simple pass-or-fail rules. Automated testing is ideal for finding barriers on large amounts of content, but cannot identify certain types of issues. 

2. Manual testing is performed by a human (ideally someone who has experience in the accessibility industry or is someone with a disability). Though manual tests are more time-consuming, they’re essential for evaluating WCAG requirements that rely on human judgment. 

There are a few basic tests you can perform yourself to find potential usability issues (and gain crucial perspective about how your users experience your website). Try using, testing, and validating your Magento site content in different ways, including:

• Navigate using only the keyboard. The ‘Tab’ key should jump your cursor focus from top to bottom in logical order down the page, highlighting each interactive element. Now, test all of these functions: the ‘Enter’ key to activate buttons and links, the space bar to select or deselect checkboxes and radio buttons, and the arrow keys to change selections in open dropdowns and preselected radio buttons.

• Zoom in your browser to 200%. If content overlaps and is made illegible, change the browser window width. 

• Hover over and read the browser tab. When a page is loaded, each tab should have a unique title explaining the page’s purpose. 

• Enter incorrect data on your forms. Entering incorrect information can help you determine if error messages are clear and help you fix the problem. Make sure you’re using an indicator other than color to denote errors. 

Before fixing any accessibility issues on your Magento site, it’s important to understand how it affects your customers. For example, with AudioEye’s Active Monitoring and Expert Reporting, you’ll have guidance on how to make fixes that actually improve the user experience — rather than checking off a box to meet a compliance requirement.

Monitor the Ongoing Accessibility of Your Website

Here’s the thing about accessibility: It’s not a one-time project.

Accessibility is an ongoing effort, which means every time you change your website, you need to check it for accessibility.

If you’re regularly updating your Magento site with new content, you’ll need to come up with an accessibility plan that builds in regular monitoring and maintenance. 

Some tips for building your accessibility strategy:

• Publish an accessibility statement. Your accessibility statement outlines your goals and provides your customers with ways to report accessibility barriers. 

• Test your website whenever content changes. E-commerce websites often update every day — if that’s the case, you should test content daily with automated tools.

• Communicate the importance of accessibility to your entire team. Developers, designers, and content writers play important roles in creating inclusive content. 

AudioEye offers ongoing automated testing and remediation along with expert custom testing from members of the disability community, helping businesses of all sizes stay accessible and ADA compliant.

The Importance of Web Accessibility

Customers on your website want information — and they want it right away. Time is precious for everyone, so getting the right information in front of a prospect ASAP is critical to completing a sale. 

The same logic applies to shoppers accessing your site using assistive devices. Many blind or visually impaired shoppers use screen readers to navigate websites and read webpage content aloud using text-to-speech software. 

Without accessibility features on your website to make this process as seamless as possible, people with disabilities will click away and move on to a competitor. 

And it’s also important to remember that an accessible, inclusive design benefits everyone. More simply, when your brand embraces inclusive design, your brand benefits.

Benefits of WCAG Compliance

The eCommerce market is competitive, and prioritizing web accessibility is an excellent way to set your business apart from the competition. When you show your users that you care about their experience, you build a stronger brand — and following WCAG benefits all users. 

If you’re still wondering whether digital accessibility is worth the effort, consider the following:

• The best practices of accessibility overlap with the best practices of search engine optimization (SEO). Accessible eCommerce stores are well-positioned to perform well in search and attract more customers. 

• Accessibility features benefit all users. For example, WCAG’s color contrast requirements ensure that content is readable for people with color vision deficiencies — but sufficient color contrast can also make content readable for people who view your website in bright, natural light. 

• An accessible checkout process can decrease shopping cart abandonment and improve other key eCommerce metrics(opens in a new tab). 

• In the U.S., consumers with disabilities control about $490 billion in discretionary income. If you’re ignoring those customers, you’re missing an opportunity to grow your audience base.

collage of audioeyes accessibility portal

Accessibility is Smart Business

With AudioEye, opening up those doors further is easy. Because we seamlessly integrate with Magento, our Accessibility Platform tests your digital content against WCAG success criteria to help you get closer to ADA compliance. Plus, with our Automated Fixes, our platform can automatically fix common accessibility issues. AudioEye then supplements this testing with expert testing performed by our team of experts as well as individuals with disabilities. You can easily view all testing results in an intuitive dashboard, along with guidance for custom fixes and a 24/7 help desk.

By combining industry-leading automation with expert guidance, AudioEye gives you the best path to ADA compliance on your Magento site. 

Ready to get started? Enter the URL of your digital site into our Web Accessibility Checker below for a free accessibility scan.  

Want to see what more AudioEye can do? Schedule a demo today.