What are the world's most accessible online brands?

A new report by marketing platform Affise has determined which of the world’s online brands and retailers are the most accessible to a wide range of web users.

Using Google’s Chrome DevTools and Lighthouse, the Online Shopping Accessibility Index determines the user experiences of some of the world’s top online conglomerates, giving them an accessibility rating score out of a 100.

Financial service provider Visa was crowned the world's most accessible online brand, scoring an admirable 100 in the convenience rankings. This includes only one web accessibility error and 13 web alerts, highlighting that a great deal of time would have been spent on making things suitable for customers with disabilities. Chase Bank took second place, also scoring 100, with one accessibility error and two contrast errors. 

To calculate the accessibility score, the report utilised Google Lighthouse, a tool which takes into account factors that compromise a site's accessibility such as unhelpful alt text, irrelevant page titles, and brands using colour to convey their messages. The brands that came out on top needed to appeal to as wide a range of web users as possible.

The report also ranked different industry sectors by their online accessibility credentials, and found that some industries have taken more online shopping accessibility measures than others when it comes to online shopping. 

Renault and Volvo were found to be the most accessible automotive brands in the world. Chanel and H&M are leading the way for accessible fashion websites. Meanwhile, fan favourite Costa was revealed as the most accessible restaurant website, and Accenture tops the list as the most accessible tech website.

“As astonishing as it might seem in 2022—and particularly after events of the past two years have left so many reliant on internet access and online shopping —a huge number of online retailers still refuse to take into account the fact that many individuals have a wide range of disabilities that can make online shopping an extremely difficult and overwhelming task,” said the report authors.

It has been determined that the average UK ‘click away’ cost equated to £17.1 billion (U$23 billion) in 2019, so it is more crucial than ever to determine where these brands are going wrong and offer methods of improving the user-friendliness of their websites, and ultimately improve their online sales and profits.

As well as crowing the most accessible online e-commerce brands, the index also revealed the expected ecommerce revenue of the top 20 countries in 2022. Unsurprisingly, China is expected to be the world’s biggest generator of ecommerce revenue in 2022, predicted to generate a whopping US$1.6 billion by the end of the year. The US is predicted to generate the second-largest amount of ecommerce revenue at US$876 million with Japan in third place predicted to generate US$241 million by the close of the year.