Accessibility: eCommerce depends on mobile use efficiency
Access matters. When it comes to eCommerce, reaching out to mobile users by ensuring their apps are up to speed and running efficiently is paramount to building up a bigger mobile marketplace.
Any number of issues can plague an app, but if the developers don’t know about a bug, they can’t address the problem. In some cases, it’s the elderly and/or disabled that have issues with apps that work perfectly for others. However, the elderly and the disabled represent a valuable piece of the consumer base and they should have as much access to apps as anyone else.
Companies with a tight focus on eCommerce will test their mobile sites on iPhones, iPads, Android devices and all other popular mobile devices. They will really dig in to a mobile site, looking for snags and issues that could make a page not function as intended – anything that could put a damper on the user experience. From conducting multiple product purchases to testing coupon codes, developers who are thorough are going to catch bugs before they make themselves a nuisance to consumers. However, developers have come up with an automated tool that can take the pain out of the testing phase.
IBM researchers announced recently that they have developed a new tool for iOS and Android mobile applications that can impact up to a billion people throughout the world. Specifically, IBM’s new tool is aimed at people who are hearing and vision impaired, as well as elderly mobile users. They’re calling it the Mobile Accessibility Checker.
The chief accessibility officer for IBM explained that the goal behind the tool is related to design flaws in mobile apps that prohibit people with disabilities and the elderly from using them to their full potential. The Mobile Accessibility Checker identifies issues related to usability, which makes the app easier to use while at the same time cutting back on cost and compliance issues.
The tool is best used early in the development of a mobile app. Users of the tool get automatic alerts whenever a breach is discovered, such as a color that contrasts incorrectly, a keyboard navigation issue that flares up and any other number of usability/accessibility issues that might occur during development.
IBM’s plan is to work with SSB BART Group, a company focused on accessibility software. Together, they’re creating a new platform that utilizes the SSB’s Accessibility Management Platform for Mobile to pair it with IBM’s new checker. This collaboration will create a “testing platform for native mobile applications and mobile web content,” according to a news release from IBM.
As the Baby Boomers reach their senior years and maintain their strength as eCommerce consumers, mobile accessibility tools like these will make sure this population continues to have buying power online.
To learn more about accessibility compliance, read another NetSphere Strategies blog that focuses on the web content accessibility guidelines created by the World Wide Web Consortium to enhance website usability. The guidelines were broken into four guiding principles, which can serve as the foundation for creating a website that is accessible to all possible customers.