How retailers are fixing costly mobile accessibility issues
As retailers prepare for peak holiday shopping — a period that can account for around 20% of annual sales — a seamless, accessible mobile experience can make or break performance. Yet accessibility barriers are quietly excluding millions of shoppers with disabilities and leaving significant revenue on the table.
Consider the stakes: Seventy-two percent of adults with disabilities own smartphones, making mobile a primary gateway to the web. But small screens, gesture-based navigation and touch-first interfaces create unique challenges that aren’t accounted for in desktop-first settings. When a customer can’t tap a button, complete checkout or read a price, that friction instantly turns into a lost sale.
Why mobile accessibility matters
Accessibility is no longer just a compliance checkbox; it’s a core part of customer experience.
AudioEye’s 2025 Digital Accessibility Index found that retail websites averaged more than 350 accessibility issues per page, the highest of any industry analyzed. On mobile, where space is limited and every interaction depends on touch, those issues become exponentially more problematic.
Mobile commerce is expected to drive nearly 60% of all retail e-commerce sales in 2025, according to SellersCommerce, and Capital One reported that 76% of U.S. adults now shop on their phones. Each inaccessible checkout flow represents a missed conversion, and every unreadable image or unresponsive button sends shoppers directly to a competitor.
According to Salesforce’s “State of the Connected Customer” report, 80% of consumers said the experience a company provides is as important as its products. That expectation extends to mobile. If a site is hard to navigate or impossible to complete a purchase on, customers simply leave, and possibly for good.
The legal landscape is shifting, too. AudioEye data has found that 78% of ADA-related digital accessibility lawsuits in the U.S. now target e-commerce businesses, and the European Accessibility Act requires retailers operating in the EU to make all digital experiences usable across devices.
How retailers can take steps for accessible mobile design
On mobile, even small design flaws create significant barriers. Buttons and links that are too small to tap, checkout fields without clear labels, color contrast that makes text hard to read, menus and filters that aren’t properly coded for screen readers, missing alt text on product images and pop-ups that trap focus all create friction, especially for shoppers using assistive technology or older devices. Together, these issues make mobile shopping unnecessarily difficult for millions of customers. Fixing them does more than expand access; it also improves usability for everyone, increases conversions and helps retailers deliver the kind of frictionless experience that all shoppers have come to expect.
Retailers don’t need to rebuild their entire mobile experience to make it accessible. Many improvements can be implemented quickly, and the payoff is immediate: better usability, fewer abandoned carts and a smoother experience for all shoppers.
For instance, mobile experiences should be designed for touch and navigation. Buttons, links and controls need to be large enough to tap accurately, which is at least 44 by 44 pixels. Shoppers should also be able to move through a retail site using screen-reader gestures or keyboard navigation, with clear focus indicators and properly coded menus and filters. Special attention should be paid to mobile-specific elements, like hamburger menus and collapsible navigation, as these patterns often work on desktop but break down entirely on mobile devices with assistive technology.
Accessibility also often breaks down on mobile checkouts. Unnecessary fields should be removed, auto-complete should be enabled and it should be ensured that every input has a label that’s properly announced to assistive technology. Test the flow with VoiceOver (iOS) and TalkBack (Android) to catch issues that automation might miss.
Low color contrast on pricing, buttons or promotional banners can render content unreadable in bright sunlight or dim lighting. To ensure readability, retailers should meet contrast standards as outlined in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, and replace vague link text, like “Learn more,” with descriptive calls to action that make sense out of context.
Product photos need accurate, descriptive alt text so shoppers using assistive technology can evaluate products. “Red knit sweater with ribbed sleeves” beats “IMG_2847.jpg” every time. Watch for pop-ups or overlays that block content or can’t be dismissed, as they can effectively end a user’s session.
Accessibility is giving retailers a competitive edge
Mobile sites evolve constantly with new campaigns, product launches and seasonal updates, and accessibility requires ongoing testing and refinement.
By working with partners that offer a comprehensive approach to accessibility — combining automation, expert review and custom fixes — retailers can ensure their accessibility programs scale as they grow. Accessibility partners can also account for more nuanced accessibility issues that may otherwise be overlooked.
Accessibility should be woven into every stage of a retailer’s digital process, from initial design concepts to post-launch testing. Retailers that adopt this approach see measurable returns beyond compliance, including stronger SEO, lower cart abandonment rates and higher customer satisfaction. Accessibility improvements also help content surface in AI-powered search, giving accessible retailers a visibility advantage in the algorithms shaping the future of commerce.
Mobile commerce isn’t just where transactions happen; it’s where shoppers form lasting opinions about which brands actually value their time and business. Making that experience accessible to everyone is both the right thing to do and one of the smartest ways to grow.
Sponsored by AudioEye