Britain’s top online food retailers have mostly been found wanting in an accessibility test carried out by AbilityNet to see how easy it is for a people with various disabilities to buy food online or via their mobile apps.

Testers with a range of conditions from blindness and low vision to learning difficulties, shopped for a turkey, a Christmas pudding and a dozen crackers at the five top online food retailers using both website and, where available, mobile apps.
Of the five websites sampled – Sainsburys, Morrisons, Asda, Tesco and Ocado – only one – Tesco – met the base-level of access requirements needed for stress-free shopping, with disabled users on some sites taking over an hour to make their purchases and on others unable to complete the checkout process altogether.The apps fared a little better, with two – Ocado and Tesco – achieving minimum requirements.

Sites and apps were tested with the most commonly-encountered access technologies (such as magnification software and screen readers) and whether or not they could be accessed using the keyboard instead of the mouse. Of the top five supermarket sites, only Tescos met the needs of visitors with a visual impairment, physical difficulties or dyslexia, and attained three stars on the five star scale.

Ocado performed best out of all the mobile apps tested, achieving a four star ranking with Tescos app a close second with another three star rating.
“Both websites and mobile apps were a challenge to our testers,” said Robin Christopherson, AbilityNets head of digital inclusion. “Three stars suggests that the site or app satisfies many of the technical and legal requirements (Equality Act 2010) that enable disabled visitors to undertake the tasks set, albeit with some difficulties along the way.

“A score of less than three stars means that many customers will fail to fill their basket, let alone successfully complete the purchase and confirm a time for delivery. That only one website met this criteria promises little online festive cheer for our testers this Christmas.

“Latest figures show that a tipping point has been reached in online retail with all growth going forward resulting from sales via mobile devices (smartphones and tablets). This trend makes the accessibility of apps to disabled users a strategically even more important factor looking ahead.”

You can access the full report here.