Project: Reimagine

Accessible online shopping for

low vision users

How would it look like if users of different abilities could interact seamlessly with the webpage?

Project:Reimagine is a space where I recreate websites to make them more accessible to their target users.

With my background in occupational therapy, I often assist or teach clients to source for adaptive equipment that help them be more independent in their daily activities. Knowing that their online shopping experience can be improved motivated me to reimagine how this website could be.

Duration: 2 weeks

Role: UX designer

Tools: Figma, Canva, Optimal Workshop

Magnifying Aids

Magnifyingaids.com is an American online store selling low vision aids.

It holds a large range of products from walking aids and readings aids to games and gifts. Its target population include the blind, visually handicapped as well as sighted individuals. Some products include screen readers and video magnifiers that enlarge text, making it easier to read.

The website has since been revamped. This is how it looked like before.

Could there be a reason for this layout? Let’s find out.

Meet Jason

Jason is a staff at the Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped. He is blind and uses a screen reader to navigate websites.

He is an avid online shopper and uses his screen reader daily.

During my user interview, I got Jason to try adding an item to cart and stop right before purchasing it. His comments got me thinking.

“It is very easy to navigate. I like that the items are in a column so I can just press down to listen to the next item on the list… The checkout process was quite smooth as well.”

While the site may have impressed Jason, a blind user, other users who were visually impaired or long-sighted had other feedback

  • A list layout might be good for screen readers but for sighted users, this results in spending more time reading each line compared to searching through categories.

  • Users found the item descriptions too wordy and the text too small to read.

  • Many users mentioned that the website looked outdated, lacking credibility as a trusted e-commerce site.

All users did not realise there was an accessibility button until it was pointed out to them.

While it could have been more of a cultural difference as it is uncommon to see accessibility buttons on Singapore-based websites, it was also inconspicuously placed at one corner, resulting in it being overlooked.

Reimagining the categories

To make it easier to search for items, the information architecture of the website was revised. Feedback was sought from users that fit the target demographics of the website.

Reimagining the look

Overall aesthetics of the website needed an upgrade. But first, the colours need to have good contrast for comfortable reading. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) were used as a reference.

After the revamp, the System Usability Score improved from 70.6 (average) to 81.6 (good)

Reflections

After my interview with Jason, I wondered if I had chosen the wrong website to redesign. But I realised pretty quickly that for a website to be accessible, it would need to be intuitive for more than one type of user. Speaking to individuals with a range of vision issues as well as occupational therapists who prescribe these devices have opened my eyes to the complexities of customer needs even for such a specialised e-commerce website. It has definitely made me very excited to be able to stand at the crossroads of both healthcare and technology and put my knowledge to good use.