If your eCommerce business handles payment data, here’s an important update: PCI DSS v4.0 becomes mandatory on April 1, 2025.

This updated Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard version introduces 64 new requirements to strengthen data security and address modern threats.

This isn’t just about compliance—it’s about protecting your customers and earning their trust. At Aligent, we’re already working with clients to help them prepare for these changes and ensure they meet the new standards without disrupting their business.

Your customers (and industry regulators!) expect their personal and payment information to be secure. If they sense otherwise, they’ll abandon their purchase. According to the BigCommerce 2024 Customer Experience Report, “94% of respondents say they'll choose not to submit their order if they don't trust a site's security.”

This means security isn’t just about passing audits—it directly impacts sales and customer retention. A single breach or failure to comply could damage your reputation and have financial consequences.

The update introduces 64 new requirements, some of which are policy-based, but many require upgrades for your tech stack. Key changes include:

Tighter management of scripts within the checkout.

Expanded multi-factor authentication (MFA) requirements. In some cases, this may mean MFA for your customers, not just admin users.

Emphasis on continuous threat monitoring website traffic and logs via automated systems.

Requirements to conduct authenticated vulnerability scanning.

More flexibility with customisable security frameworks tailored to unique business needs.

These changes reflect a shift to a proactive, always-on security model, helping businesses stay ahead of potential threats.

If your business complies with PCI DSS v3.2.1, now is the time to assess how the new requirements will impact your systems, processes, and policies. Waiting until the last minute could leave your business unprepared, risking non-compliance penalties or a breach.

Beyond compliance, security is a critical part of your customer experience. Trust is a deciding factor for whether customers choose your store or a competitor. Preparing now ensures you’re ready to meet compliance requirements and customer expectations.

At Aligent, we’re already guiding eCommerce businesses to transition to PCI DSS v4.0. Our team ensures clients meet the new standards while minimising disruption to their operations. Here’s how we’re helping:

The transition to PCI DSS v4.0 is more than a compliance requirement—it’s a chance to demonstrate your commitment to security. While the 2025 deadline might seem far off, acting now ensures you’re ready and avoids a last-minute rush.

Aligent is helping businesses navigate these changes, ensuring they remain compliant and secure. We're here to support you if you want to take proactive steps toward PCI DSS v4.0 compliance.

Reach out today and ensure your eCommerce business is ready for the future.


Overcoming barriers to implementing B2B eCommerce

“We love your product, but you’re just too hard to deal with, so we’re switching to your competitor, even though we know their product is inferior” - these are words you never want to hear (the rejection is brutal). You know you’ve got something great to offer, so it’s disheartening to know you’re missing out because people feel it’s just painful to buy via your current processes.

We like to think of ourselves as rational beings, but we’re actually not (well, not completely). Study after study, and real world observations have shown that we actually make decisions based on emotion, then “post-rationalise”.

This has profound implications… implications for how you create ecommerce experiences for your customers AND how you manage your stakeholders. The role of psychology and change management cannot be overstated.


Expectations have changed within B2B ecommerce. It’s not the clunky old process that you know (and don’t love). It’s out with faxes, handwritten forms and endless phone calls, in with personalised, streamlined, transparent online processes.


We’ve been hearing for years now that B2B customers have B2C expectations. So what’s holding us back?

So… in addition to the right tools, what ingredients create success? We’ll call them the 6Ps:

We all need a champion to help create clarity of the vision and have a relentless focus on customer experience.

B2B plays out in different ways in each business. We talk about B2B as if it is homogenous & undifferentiated. It’s not just about selling to other businesses or selling volume. Deeply understanding the complexities of YOUR version of B2B is vital. It is massively diverse in its models, and within each organisation. Much of the internal knowledge may not be properly documented or understood. It’s important to extract this info and test it.

Working with your team to create change is not only necessary, but beneficial, especially for the field sales team. This is not about replacing them with technology,

rather it is about augmenting so they can better focus on building relationships with customers.

B2B buyers are humans too and humans are “rationalising not rational” decision makers, so it’s important to understand the emotional drivers for your customers. Improving processes using ecommerce solutions is about strengthening customer relationships, not replacing them, creating efficiencies for lower value interactions and enriching high value interactions. A more streamlined path to purchase enables customers to be more productive, playing into the needs of saving time, reducing effort and decreasing hassles.

Integration underpins everything. There is no perfect, standalone “one tool to rule them all”. Remember the importance of fulfillment as part of the experience. Integrations and solution architecture is key to managing expectations and fulfilment abilities. Select “fit for YOUR purpose” tools that “play nicely” and align with other applications.

Don’t try to boil the ocean! Think of executing an ecommerce platform as a “Minimum Time to Value” (MTTV), rather than a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) project. Focus on how you will demonstrate success and justify ongoing investment. This requires discipline and a committed executive sponsor.

“Nothing worthwhile was ever accomplished without the will to start, the enthusiasm to continue and, regardless of temporary obstacles, the persistence to complete.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

There will be challenges. Prepare stakeholders early for risks such as:

Changes in business direction (customer or internal)

Linking into “People”, long-term relationships are based on joint success. You need to be willing to have the hard conversations. Relationships are built on trust which requires transparency and vulnerability.


To round up, it’s true that expectations have changed, but B2B is different from B2C. However, tools exist to deliver on those expectations, but that’s the “easy part”.

The complexity of B2B ecommerce can feel overwhelming and perhaps not even an option for some businesses, but the reality is that it is achievable and greatly beneficial. Exploring the 6 Ps is a great place to start.

Sponsoring SA’s largest tech community run conference

We had a great time at the DDD Adelaide Conference over the weekend. DDD Adelaide is the state's largest tech community run conference and we were thrilled to be an SA Sponsor. The event brought together developers and tech enthusiasts for a jam-packed day filled with an awesome line-up of expert speakers, networking, food and activities.

The team geared up in our new Aligent branded polo shirts, and provided delicious cookies as part of the swag bag for attendees. There were many engaging, insightful presentations on coding, microservices, agile, recruitment and much more! Some key takeaways included:

We should always be aware of accessibility during design and implementation. It is important to work with experts and the community to help deliver more accessible sites.

Just because it’s convenient or “cool” doesn’t mean it’s necessarily the most versatile approach.

There are three different approaches to dealing with legacy code:

Strangler fig: Gradually replace parts of the code base with the “new way”. 

Cordon and Rebuild: Completely separate a large part of the project and rebuild it from scratch.

Build on a new primitive: Take the abstractions from your existing code-base and wrap them in new abstractions that add in the functionality and API that you want. Legacy code can continue talking to the old abstraction in any situation where that is not causing a business problem. 

Internal developer portals (IDPs) are great for boosting developer experience and there are a number of tools that can be used for this

Being mindful of cognitive biases when programming as it helps yourself and your team make more conscious decisions; and enables better communication with others who might not be aware of their own biases.

Many thanks to Isaac Mann and the team for organising this and to all the presenters for sharing their expertise. Plus special thanks to Darren Greatrex from Greatrex Marketing for organising our lovely new shirts and to Megan (Megs) White from Megs Makes for creating our amazing looking (and delicious) cookies.

How Microservices are Serving Up Smaller, Faster, and Tastier Ecommerce Morsels

You're at brunch in a trendy cafe, and you order a deconstructed meal (like the true hipster you are). You're presented with a plate of individual ingredients - a piece of bread, some avocado, a poached egg, a little pile of spices - each one carefully prepared and presented on its own.

That's what microservices are like for ecommerce. Instead of one big, complicated system, elements are broken down into individual components that can be developed and managed separately. If you decide to go vegetarian, you can easily remove the bacon off your plate because it's not baked into a quiche, or scrambled with the egg. If you decided you wanted spinach after all, it's no big deal to find space for it on the plate. And the best part? Each element of your breakfast is clearly defined and observable - the freshness of your spinach is plain to see. 

The applications of microservices in ecommerce have great benefits both from a technical and business perspective. Microservices can be language agnostic, which means any developer can contribute. This limits single point dependencies and broadens the pool for staffing or hiring. They allow for a reduced time to market for new features, allowing faster iterations and prototyping. For example, one could break out shipment management and make improvements without impacting interactions with other systems.

Microservices complement serverless architecture to provide powerful scalability. 

Microservices can be used to break down a monolithic application into smaller, more manageable pieces, while serverless architecture can be used to run those pieces at scale, without the need for dedicated (expensive) infrastructure. This means granular control over resources, allowing for cost reduction. For example, during a stocktake sale, one might want to give more resources to inventory services to ensure they are accurate throughout the peak period, then scale that service back down afterwards. This can be done to just that particular service rather than the entire platform, providing significant cost savings.

Ecommerce agencies like Aligent have used microservices since 2020 to integrate best of breed services and ecommerce components alongside core platforms, and recommends microservices as a method of de-risking the integration of legacy back office systems. Systems can have microservices added incrementally; it does not need to be an all or nothing approach. It is also the recommended approach for new to market platforms, as you don't have to order the full English breakfast from the get go. You can simply start with the bacon, and as your appetite grows, add more ingredients to the plate.

What does the future of ecommerce technology look like?

We can expect microservices to become even more popular as businesses continue to move towards cloud-based solutions and seek ways to improve their agility and scalability.

As microservices become more widely adopted, we can expect to see greater standardisation in the form of common frameworks and guidelines.

Serverless architecture is becoming more popular and we can expect to see more use of it in combination with microservices to allow organisations to focus more on building and deploying services, rather than managing infrastructure.

It is becoming increasingly important to have good observability tools in place as microservices become more complex. This includes logging, monitoring, and tracing to quickly identify and troubleshoot issues within the system.

With more data generated by microservices, there will be greater opportunities to use AI and machine learning to extract insights and optimise performance.

So if you want to create an ecommerce experience that's as cutting edge and sophisticated as a deconstructed meal in a trendy cafe, consider microservices.

Celebrating our unique cultures at Aligent

At Aligent, fostering togetherness is ingrained in our core values. Our dedication to these principles was recently recognised through our nomination for the Vendors in Partnership Awards for Sustainability, Inclusivity, or Diversity Innovation this year. This accolade underscores our ongoing efforts to champion inclusivity and innovation in all aspects of our work.


Earlier this year, Harmony Day gave us a wonderful opportunity to pause and unite over a delightful feast. As always, it was such a highlight, where we proudly champion diversity, inclusion, collaboration, and partnership. We firmly believe that embracing a multitude of experiences, skills, and perspectives enriches our collective strength.


Thanks to the team who brought in the yummiest array of food, and shared in the joy of celebrating each others' culture and heritage. With over 25 different countries represented, touching every continent (except Antarctica which doesn't really count, right?) there was so much choice!


We then followed on later in the year by celebrating Diwali in style with delicious food, tea light painting and an Aligent inspired rangoli. A few of us even dressed up in the traditional salwar kameez outfits.

Let's continue to celebrate our unique cultures and come together in harmony.

Aligent wins Best Charity/Philanthropic Initiative Award

Recognition at the Vendors in Partnership (VIP) 2024 Awards

We were thrilled to receive the Best Charity/Philanthropic Initiative Award at the 2024 Vendors in Partnership Awards.

At Aligent, we are driven by our passion to make a meaningful difference in the communities we serve. Our commitment is anchored in our core values of Generosity, Togetherness, and Zest. These values inspire us to give back and cultivate strong, value-driven connections.

We collaborate with impactful organizations such as Talent Beyond Boundaries, Barkuma, Food on the Table, Puddle Jumpers, STEPtember, 42 Adelaide, CareerTrackers, Variety, the Children's Charity and Riding for the disabled - South Australia to enhance our impact through local initiatives and wider-reaching programs.

This award recognises our team's unwavering dedication to creating positive change, actively rolling up our sleeves, and making a difference. We are truly honoured and grateful for this recognition and are excited to continue making a positive impact!


This year, Aligent was nominated for three other awards:

Sustainability, Inclusivity, or Diversity Innovation


The Vendors in Partnership (VIP) Awards recognises and celebrates solution providers whose partnerships drive innovation for the industry. VIP is dedicated to improving how vendors and retailers work together so that we can transform the retail experience.

This award recognises our team's unwavering dedication to creating positive change, actively rolling up our sleeves, and making a difference. We are truly honoured and are excited to continue making a positive impact!

Stepping up for a great cause - STEPtember 2024

The team stepped up to support STEPtember as part of our annual fundraising tradition to support the Cerebral Palsy Alliance. Together, we raised a total of $8,367 which placed us in the Top 200 Australian organisations, alongside some huge National participants.

In addition to our Pirate Day fundraising activities, the team found other creative and enjoyable ways to get their steps in - from gardening, to wandering down to the pub for a rewarding meal. There was some healthy competition amongst our internal teams to out-step each other. While it was a close race, Team Stepocalypse took the crown with an impressive 1,715,949 steps, with Team “! wheelie love riding my bike” following closely behind. Anton was our individual champion, racking up over 170,000 steps! The winners celebrated with “Ask Me About My Step Count” mugs.

Every 20 hours, an Australian child is diagnosed with cerebral palsy. STEPtember helps the Cerebral Palsy Alliance to continue to fund a wide range of research, services and assistive technology initiatives, supporting people with cerebral palsy to live their best lives. This year, the event had over 90,000 participants and raised over $6.5 million.


Well done team and thank you all for supporting this great cause.

Together, we raised a total of $8,367 which placed us in the Top 200 Australian organisations, alongside some huge National participants.

Joval Wines is crowned Mid-Market B2B Ecommerce Distributor of the Year

Congratulations to our client, Joval Wines, who has been honoured with the prestigious global "Mid-Market B2B Ecommerce Distributor of the Year" award at the inaugural B2B eCommerce Association Industry Awards in New York.


This award, which is open to global distributors across all industries with annual revenues up to $300 million USD, saw fierce competition from finalists in the USA, UK, Brazil, and Sweden. Joval Wines' win for their recent project with Aligent and Relab Studios is a testament to their relentless drive to innovate, challenge industry norms, and deliver impactful business solutions.


The Global B2B eCommerce Industry Awards, celebrates the outstanding achievements of manufacturers and distributors who are leading the way B2B ecommerce and digital transformation


The Joval Wines WineSource portal has set the standard for wine distribution in Australia, earning well-deserved recognition as a world-leading platform. It offers time poor customers a fully self-service online experience available 24/7 that is super fast, along with unique industry-specific functionality on a SAAS platform made possible through a headless architecture.


The collaboration between Aligent, BigCommerce and Joval Wines has successfully tackled the complexities of large-scale wine distribution, bringing a carefully designed user experience to life. Driven in real-time by sophisticated integration, the project sets a new standard for B2B ecommerce and portal functionality. We're thrilled to have partnered with Joval Wines on this transformative project.

You can check out more about our work with Joval here:

https://www.aligent.com.au/our-work/joval-wine-group-uncorks-digital-transformation-and-customer-experience

The collaboration between Aligent, BigCommerce and Joval Wines has successfully tackled the complexities of large-scale wine distribution, bringing a carefully designed user experience to life.

MACH Alliance Awards finalist for Trade Tools and Aligent for best B2B Project. 

Aligent and Trade Tools on the global stage at the MACH Alliance Impact Awards. 

This week, we had the incredible honor of being nominated for our work with TradeTools at the prestigious MACH Alliance Impact Awards in New York. This event celebrates the most innovative and impactful technology projects worldwide that leverage a MACH strategy.

TradeTools achieved a remarkable transformation by transitioning their backend eCommerce technology to BigCommerce while maintaining their front-end experience in less than three months. This approach significantly reduced migration time and cost compared to a full rebuild and truly embodies the essence of the MACH movement.

Aligent and TradeTools were recognized for world-leading execution of Composable architecture, demonstrated by seamlessly swapping to Bigcommerce's ecommerce service in a few short months immediately before peak season

The MACH Alliance champions industry-leading, flexible technologies for modern businesses. It revolves around four key principles:

Microservices: Breaking down applications into smaller, modular components for independent development and deployment.

API-first: Prioritizing APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) for seamless communication between different systems.

Cloud-native SaaS: Leveraging cloud-based, subscription software for scalability and agility.

Headless: Decoupling the frontend (presentation layer) from the backend (data layer) for independent development and customization.

The MACH movement encourages businesses to adopt these principles for building adaptable, scalable, and future-proof digital experiences.

At Aligent, we've been at the forefront of this movement since 2017, recognizing the market's demand for more flexible solutions, higher performance, and greater independence. This led to the creation of the Aligent Take Flight PWA Accelerator (using React and microservices). Our accelerator supports complex scenarios, optimized for SEO, best practice UI, and site speed. Merchants such as Kathmandu, Trade Tools, Rockwear, Tarocash, Eroma, Jands, and many more have benefited from our Take Flight framework.

Our approach significantly reduces risk and accelerates time-to-market for enhancing digital capabilities. We provide a range of best-in-class tools for critical functionalities like merchandising, rich content management, personalization, reviews, loyalty programs, gift cards, omnichannel support, and more. Additionally, using React opens up access to a larger pool of skilled developers and community-developed components, reducing total cost of ownership (TCO) and risk.

Aligent's approach significantly reduces risk and accelerates time-to-market for enhancing digital capabilities

Our headless approach, utilizing Mesh and microservices efficiently, offers the best opportunity for an incredibly fast website that meets user expectations. For example, a leading fashion retail client saw significant improvements in site speed post-launch:

Page Load Time < 1 second: 4.34% (Pre-launch) to 37.31% (Post-launch)

Page Load Time < 1.5 seconds: 8% (Pre-launch) to 50.65% (Post-launch)

Page Load Time < 2 seconds: 13.03% (Pre-launch) to 64.38% (Post-launch)

Improving site speed is crucial for enhancing conversion rates. Numerous studies show a direct correlation between site performance and customer engagement, making it an essential aspect of website design.

As eCommerce becomes a larger percentage of overall sales and the primary way consumers engage with your brand, it's essential to reduce friction and equip your teams with the necessary tools to adapt, create, and win over consumers.

Headless commerce is more than a trend—it's a strategic advantage that drives superior performance and flexibility, positioning your business for success in an increasingly digital world.

Let's discuss how Aligent's MACH-powered solutions can help your business take flight! 

The promise of headless is real (not just hype!) and offers tangible benefits not only to the engineering team but also to the executive team.

You are probably hearing the word Headless a lot, but what does it actually mean?

The word Headless has been thrown about the ecommerce industry since it was first introduced in 2013 by Dirk Hoerig. Being an industry full of acronym-laden geekspeak (yes, that is a word according to Collins), there is little wonder why confusion and ambiguity seem to work their way into the minds of many.

The main difference between Headless and traditional ecommerce is the separation between the commerce platform and the customer interface (“PWA” in the diagram below). This is how the word “headless” came to be the name of this revolution in ecommerce technology. By separating the “head” from the commerce platform, a new path for performant and flexible technology was uncovered. No longer do all features and interactions have to be delivered via the ecommerce platform itself!

In 2020, the term Composable Commerce was introduced to more aptly describe the path the technology has taken since; modularisation in a cloud-native and multi-experience world. One commerce platform (or backend) can now serve multiple user interfaces (frontends) and serve up different experiences, augmented by best-fit tools. Packaged Business Capabilities (PBC) - even more geekspeak - defines the separation of Goldilocks “just right” business functionality within the services layer via components. This enables tailoring of specific functionality without impacting the entire platform, and is especially beneficial when there is functionality you don’t want across multiple storefronts (such as click and collect, which may not be available in all regions). 

Aligent wins twice at the Bigcommerce Partner Awards!

Winners of B2B Excellence and Partner of the Year Awards!

Our team is delighted to receive these awards from Bigcommerce, amongst strong competition from other agencies, and in recognition of the stellar outcomes that our clients have reported from our collaborations. We can't wait to build on this platform in coming years, it is an exciting time!

Aligent's team received the ultimate recognition for an outstanding year of delivering Bigcommerce projects, proudly accepting the Partner of the Year for 2023. Reflecting consistent excellence across a wide variety of projects including B2B and B2C, Headless and Stencil, Local and International, this award will be celebrated by our team! 

Aligent's history with B2B on Bigcommerce was recognized with the "B2B Excellence" award last night, the culmination of projects across multiple industries spanning homewares, wine, construction and more.

Specifically, the Winesource project for Joval Wine Group was highlighted in receiving this award, demonstrating the best attributes of a collaborative project delivery approach to solve complex pricing, inventory and availability challenges while creating an intuitive and delightful user experiences. The usage and commercial stats are industry leading, and the feedback from end users unmatched. Well done!

Aligent's work in delivering complex B2B projects on Bigcommerce is unmatched in this region, and clients are thrilled with the results!

Jonathan Day: The Secrets of Optimising Site Performance 

Recently Jonathan Day was fortunate enough to be able to present an episode on Add To Cart where he was able to uncover some of the secrets to optimising your site performance. Jump in and find out why performance is not just a technical activity but incorporates customer psychology to get the best results. Not sure about what tool to use to measure performance? Jonathan will break down the metrics you need and other tools for your optimisation tool kit. 

Jonathan Day from Aligent: The Secrets to Optimizing Site Performance | #315

Changing lives and workplaces through skilled refugee migration

Widespread global conflict in recent years has seen families being displaced from many parts of the world. At the same time, Australia is facing a skills shortage in the workforce.

Global recruitment firm Talent Beyond Boundaries (TBB) is creatively and compassionately solving both problems -  helping displaced refugees from war-torn countries to find new beginnings in Australia while finding highly skilled staff to fill vacancies in Australia’s IT sector.

South Australian eCommerce company Aligent has been proactive and one of the first companies in South Australia to recruit and sponsor the migration of skilled refugees through the Skilled Refugee Pilot Program. TBB is collaborating with the Australian Government to not only help Australian companies fill their skills shortage, but also to help skilled refugees to settle in Australia.

Through this program, Aligent was able to search the TBB online job boards when recruiting, enabling us to connect with skilled refugees and displaced people.

Aligent Managing Director, Jonathan Day said “COVID and closed borders saw growth in demand for skilled specialised software and IT workers, we recruited in Adelaide and invested significantly in local talent but also needed to look elsewhere to meet the demand of Australian businesses,” 

“TBB connects employers around the world with refugees who are seeking work. Australian companies like ours, which require specialised skills, are now able to connect with displaced individuals who are looking for employment opportunities, hoping to relocate for work, rebuild their lives, and become valuable members of a new community in a different country.

“The suggestion that refugees place an excessive financial burden on a country by draining public resources is inaccurate, in fact their contributions add great value economically and socially to the wider community, and to our organisation directly.”

Multicultural Communities Council of SA Inc Chief Executive Helena Kyriazopoulos said: “Endorsed Australian employers are now able to tap into this overlooked talent pool of skilled professionals and tradespeople, and utilise this Labour Agreement to sponsor skilled refugees to work in their businesses.”

“This provides a safe migration pathway for thousands of refugees and displaced people over the coming years and assists companies around Australia struggling with a severe talent crunch,” she said.

Through the program Aligent have recruited several employees, including software engineer Sarya who fled Syria in 2012 as a refugee, they offered her not only a job but supported the relocation of her immediate family.

“The scheme assists potential employers and refugees to work together to address the challenges of not having any documentation and proof of work experience as they fled their country since employers can directly assess the skills and vouch for the candidate’s capability” Mr Day said.

“Businesses have direct access to skilled candidates who would be excluded from the traditional migration pathways and visas due to inaccessible documentation, but we can be confident in their skills and work experience,” he said.

“Candidates showcase their skills through performing skills tests and interviewing for high-quality roles. We were blown away by the quality of the candidates and have now hired five engineers through the pilot program,” he said

“There is a huge demand from business to trade online and IT staffing has had a hit with closed borders for skilled independent migrants and less skilled graduates.”

“Sarya was selected after a competitive round of online interviews. She has a Bachelor of Information Technology and Engineering from Damascus University and was first introduced to our business in 2020.”

The scheme assists potential employers and refugees to work together to address the challenges of not having any documentation and proof of work experience as they fled their country since employers can directly assess the skills and vouch for the candidate’s capability

Since 2012 when she fled Syria with her family, Sarya had been living in Amman, Jordan, with her husband, 19-year-old son and 3-year-old twins in limbo with no legal working status, worried that they would be forced back to Syria

A broad range of companies are now able to access the pilot program to hire skilled Syrian, Afghan and Ukrainian refugees, who are displaced due to conflicts in their countries.

“Our local staff are highly supportive of this program that enables us to improve the lives of vulnerable people, and the initiative is a key part of our broader focus on community and inclusion. This is one more example of how diversity and social contribution makes our business stronger and better suited to the needs and mandates of the modern working environment.” Mr Day said.

The program is also designed to remove some of the barriers that forcibly displaced people face when trying to access employer-sponsored skilled migration pathways.

Talent Beyond Boundaries works with governments, partners, and the private sector to ensure that refugees have equitable access to skilled migration as a complementary solution to displacement.

A family reunited through talent mobility pathway

Accessibility: why you need to pay more attention

What does Accessibility mean in the world of e-commerce?

By making e-commerce accessible, retailers can reach a wider customer base and create a more inclusive and diverse online shopping experience, which has a positive impact on reputation and the bottom line.

A study by WebAIM found that 98% of websites fail to meet accessibility standards. (WebAIM, 2022)

According to the World Health Organization, about 15% of the global population has some form of disability (WHO, 2021); even higher in Australia at 18% (ABS, 2022)

There are over 690 million persons with disabilities in the Asia-Pacific region (UN, 2021)

Beyond the community benefit, the opportunity to reach into relatively untapped markets presents an attractive commercial proposition.

In addition to the benefits of increasing the pool of shoppers that can purchase goods and services, merchants who invest in accessibility reap significant benefits in terms of SEO. Techniques to improve accessibility are well aligned with search engine friendliness, particularly by adding labels and descriptive text. Further, accessible design often creates more intuitive interfaces for all users, reducing cognitive friction and increasing conversion.

Accessibility in e-commerce includes ensuring that websites and apps are designed to make them easy to navigate using assistive technology, such as screen readers or alternative input devices. Aligent is an example of an ecommerce agency who is collaborating with clients to drive accessibility improvements, recognising the opportunity that exists.  

Recently, the industry has increasingly recognised the importance of Accessibility in e-commerce and has invested in developing a greater awareness of requirements and related technologies. Aligent has explored insightful activities that are contributing to this movement. For example, the agency held an accessibility “showdown”, whereby employees were classed into testers and helpers, aiming to navigate leading e-commerce websites using only accessibility tools and software commonly in use.

With the importance of accessibility in mind, how are we responding to this opportunity as an industry? What is the present reality?

A tester would listen to the screen reader software, and attempt to navigate using a keyboard (without seeing the screen). Alongside each tester were two helpers, who provided guidance when a tester got stuck, noted when that happened and communicated tasks: “search for a product”, “add to cart (including specifying size or colour)” and “checkout with alternative payment”.

Multiple sites were tested and the results were staggering; you won’t fully appreciate the challenges until you attempt to do it yourself!

In almost all instances, testers couldn’t easily find the price of a product; in some cases, the form fields weren’t announced correctly and validation errors weren't announced at all. On the product listing pages, it was hard for testers to keep track of filters they had enabled.

For the websites that implemented them, landmarks were a lifesaver, making it much easier to jump around to different parts of the page. Similarly, semantic HTML made a huge difference when announcing content within a landmark.

Some immediate “quick wins” will directly address such issues mentioned:

Using aria-live on validation messages so that a screen reader will announce them;

Giving textual labels to visual elements that have semantic meaning;

Ensuring web page requirements are identified to the user, and the reasons why certain elements might not be available yet, such as filling in shipping details at checkout.

As you can see, small changes can make a big difference, so providing an accessible user experience does not need to be a big project on its own, but rather a consideration to keep in mind. The benefits will be significant, spanning business imperatives such as conversion optimisation, SEO and social good! 

Jonathan Day: The Secrets of Optimising Site Performance

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