What are the WCAG guidelines, and how do they apply to eCommerce websites?

WCAG compliance is essential for eCommerce stores for many reasons. WCAG compliance primarily ensures that your store is accessible to everybody, irrespective of disability. 

This not only includes individuals with visual impairments but also those with cognitive disabilities, physical disabilities, and even hearing impairments. 

Secondly, eCommerce site accessibility helps ensure that your virtual store is easy to use for everybody. Lastly, WCAG compliance protects your store from legal action. 

What is WCAG Compliance and what does it mean for your website or business?

The WCAG is a set of guidelines and requirements for making sites accessible. It is organized around four principles: robust, understandable, operable, and perceivable. 

These aren’t just crucial standards; they are keys to making website content accessible. These globally recognized guidelines are created by W3C (World Wide Web Consortium). 

How can you make sure your website is WCAG compliant? 

Particular guidelines ensure that websites are designed to comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. These strategies ensure that web content is more accessible to individuals with disabilities.

The WCAG provides 3 compliance levels: AAA (advanced), AA (intermediate), and A (beginner). These are defined in detail below.

To comply with WCAG at Level A, a site must:

• Provide text alternatives for content that is non-text.
• Deploy clear, helpful page titles.
• Present items in a consistent sequence
• Offer a substitute for video-only and audio-only content.
• Provide consumer controls for content moving.

To comply with WCAG at Level AA, a site must:

• Have different ways to locate pages.
• Notify consumers when the language used on a page changes.
• Ensure the keyboard focus remains clear and visible. 
• Have all icons and buttons positioned with consistency.
• Provide fixes if the consumers make errors.

To comply with WCAG at Level AAA, a site must:

• Provide extended audio descriptions for videos.
• Ensure the contrast share between background and text is 1:7.
• Provide a text substitute for videos.
• Ensure the audio content remains clear for listening.
• Ensure all content is logical to the 9th-grade reading level.

Or, you can directly contact the WCAG accessibility provider to get exclusive benefits.

What are the advantages of WCAG compliance?

Let’s have a look at the top 4 advantages of web accessibility for your company

• Enhanced Usability

Ensuring WCAG guidelines enhances the overall usability and user experience of your website. It boosts consumer satisfaction.

Following the web accessibility recommendations stated in this article will upgrade the common usability of your site.

• Building A Brand

Representing your brand as comprehensive has become vital. Modern customers are interested in knowing whether the product aligns with their values. Be it enriching your community or saving the environment, publishing an accessibility statement to repeat your commitment can help you gather a favorable reputation for your brand.

• Improves SEO Metrics

Abiding with the different stages of guidelines under WCAG can help you enhance your overall site score, making your website more searchable on search engines. Improved SEO metrics can help you drive more traffic to your site.

• Higher Revenue

As per a recent report, 1 in 4 U.S adults are living with a disability (which includes hearing disabilities, visual disabilities, and motor disabilities). 

Following the eCommerce site accessibility can lead to better long-term loyalty, positive word-of-mouth, and boosted sales.

How can you make your site more accessible to all consumers?

The WCAG 2.0 rules should be followed when developing a site to ensure it can be used by consumers with varying abilities. The following steps should be implemented:

1. Using a Website Accessibility Manager

When appointing a WAM (Web Accessibility Manager), the applicant has to be picked sensibly. You should ensure this individual has adequate skills in content management and web development and is also well-versed with the nuances of WCAG 2.0. The WAM should be able to develop a web accessibility policy tailored to the client business’s website. The policy has to be comprehensive and simple. 

2. Seeking services of a Website Accessibility Consultant

If your business is better suited to an external resource, hiring a consultant who focuses on WCAG compliance makes sense. The consultant will work closely with the business’s website management team to address, prioritize, and find the content and development for your site. The consultant will also train the company’s internal teams and provide relevant documentation.

3. Carrying out a WCAG Audit

• You can make use of an automated auditing tool to execute an inclusive site audit. They will suggest remedial measures and find out the problem area.
• Manual code checking. 
• An assistive technology analysis. The testers deploy tools used by disabled consumers to ensure compatibility.

4. Maintaining Detailed Records

It is essential to document every action taken by you to make the site adhere to WCAG norms. The audit reports should be stored. Details like people and dates for executing the actions should be recorded in the documentation.

5. Offering In-house Training

Any site will require ongoing website compliance. It is vital to instill a protocol for compliance in the team members who are responsible for sustaining your website. 

Wrapping up 

E-commerce websites must be developed and designed so that all content is accessible. WCAG guidelines ensure that the e-commerce website is operable for individuals with various disabilities. This includes a sufficient contrast ratio for users with visual impairments, easy navigation for screen reader users, and intuitive, simple interfaces for consumers with cognitive disabilities.