2024 Holiday Retail Guide

INTRODUCTION

Imagine decorating your store for the holidays but forgetting to unlock the door. No matter how enticing your products or holiday deals, if people can’t get inside, they’ll take their business elsewhere.

For people with disabilities, it’s not enough to have a catchy email subject line or a great Cyber Monday deal; if they can’t fully engage with your website and digital content, they likely won’t become (or stay) a loyal customer.

This holiday season, open your digital doors to every customer by making sure your website and marketing campaigns are accessible to every user, including the 1.3 billion people globally with a disability.

An icon of a shopping cart with an accessibility symbol on it, next to a quote that reads "If your website isn't accessible, you're losing customers. And even if it's technically accessible but a real pain ... you're probably still going to lose some customers." that is attributed to Christy Smith, Digital Accessibility Advocate.
Four illustrated characters representing different disabilities, next to a label that reads "Chapter 1: Create Inclusive Social"

CHAPTER 1

Build brand awareness with accessible social.

If you want to reach Millennial and Gen Z shoppers, the best place to get started is social media.

According to HubSpot’s 2024 State of Marketing report, 59% of Millennials and 64% of Gen Z have discovered new products on social media in the last three months.

Marketers are turning to platforms like TikTok and Instagram to reach Gen Z and millennial shoppers, many of whom bypass traditional search engines to discover products and brands on social media. Even if your audience skews older, social media is still one of the most effective ways to build awareness.

A dark and light blue pie chart next to a caption that reads "41% of consumers have discovered a product or service on social media in the last three months." The stat is attributed to Salesforce's Sixth State of the Connected Customer report.

There’s little doubt that social media can be one of the best channels for brand awareness. But if your content isn’t accessible to people with disabilities, the only impression you’ll make is a negative one.

A dark and light blue pie chart next to a caption that reads "80% of customers say the experience a company provides is as important as its products and services." The stat is attributed to Salesforce's Sixth State of the Connected Customer report.

Welcome every user with inclusive content.

For people with disabilities, accessibility issues can make it hard to engage with content on social media. Imagine scrolling through your Instagram feed and seeing nothing but blank photos. Or watching a video and not being able to understand a single word over the loud buzz of background noise.

These examples might seem a bit far-fetched (blank photos?! Videos you can’t hear?!), but that can be the experience for people with disabilities when social content is missing descriptive alt text or closed captions.

A gold banner that reads "Social media accessibility is the practice of creating social media content that delivers a smooth, inclusive experience for every user."

Fortunately, most social media platforms include accessibility features to help brands deliver an inclusive experience to every user. For example, Instagram has a dedicated field for alt text and lets brands turn on automatic captions for reels.

However, it’s important to remember that social media accessibility isn’t limited to alt text or closed captions. Here are three more tips to help you improve the accessibility of your social content for the holidays:

  1. Provide #CamelCase hashtags: Capitalizing the first letter in each word of a hashtag helps screen readers identify separate words, enabling them to announce the hashtag correctly.
  2. Use special formatting in moderation: Try to avoid special formatting like ALL CAPS or bold or italic text. ALL CAPS text can be difficult for people with dyslexia to read, while font styling isn’t always announced by screen readers — which means screen reader users can miss out on special emphasis.
  3. Place emojis at the end of tweets and captions: When placed within a string of text, screen readers announce them with the emoji’s alt text, disrupting the flow for screen reader users.
Stacks of money with accessibility symbols on each bill, next to a label that reads "Chapter 2: Reduce Buying Friction"

CHAPTER 2

Deliver a seamless shopping experience to every customer.

Imagine trying to open a present that someone used WAY too much tape to wrap. By the time you get through each layer of tape, you’re too tired to even enjoy what’s inside. You shouldn’t have to work so hard for your gift —… it’s the holidays! Don’t make your customers work harder than necessary to unwrap your biggest deals.

Unfortunately, people with disabilities constantly encounter digital accessibility issues that can make it difficult to shop online.

A dark and light blue pie chart next to a caption that reads "Over 50% of disabled consumers have trouble accessing content and products online."

That report backs our own research, which found that digital accessibility is a persistent challenge for even the world’s biggest brands.

In 2023, AudioEye scanned nearly 90,000 retail web pages and uncovered accessibility issues that can make it difficult for people with disabilities to navigate between pages, compare products, or add items to their cart:

  • 72% of pages had images with vague or missing image alternative text, which can make it difficult for screen reader users to understand what an image is supposed to convey.
  • 68% of pages had non-descriptive links, which can make it difficult for screen reader users to know where a link will take them.
  • 47% of pages with a form had at least one unlabeled field, which can make it difficult for screen reader users to enter their shopping information or payment method.
An icon of an accessibility symbol with a crack through the middle, next to a quote that reads "“It’s genuinely disheartening. And it’s way too common. I could not tell you how many times I’ve been unable to access my cart, fill out my shipping information, or solve the CAPTCHA." that is attributed to Chris Preiman, AudioEye A11iance Member.

For people with disabilities, shopping online can be like sledding uphill.

There are a few different approaches, from automated accessibility testing to manual reviews of key pages and user actions (like adding an item to their cart or checking out). But the most effective way to scale accessibility across every customer touchpoint is by taking the best of each approach:

  • Automated accessibility testing can help you find many common accessibility issues — with some accessibility vendors automatically fixing these issues before they can impact shoppers.
  • Manual accessibility testing focuses primarily on accessibility issues that cannot be identified by automation alone, such as the accuracy of an alt text description or whether a pop-up window creates a usability issue for keyboard-only users.
  • Developer tools enable teams to check for accessibility issues throughout the software development lifecycle — testing web pages and components against the latest digital accessibility standards.
A yellow lightbulb on a blue background, next to a caption that reads "At AudioEye, we work with over 50 members of the disability community to manually test key page templates and user actions on your website — using the same assistive technology as your customers."

Scale accessibility with powerful automation

Learn how AudioEye can help you deliver an accessible experience to every holiday shopper by automatically finding and fixing accessibility issues.

Watch Demo

A stylized web page with an accessibility symbol highlighted in the middle, next to a label that reads "Chapter 3: Design Inclusive Content"

CHAPTER 3

Spread holiday cheer with inclusive email, video, and images.

There’s a common misconception that designing for accessibility means compromising on aesthetics.

Some designers worry that accessible design means letting go of things like minimalist color palettes or subtle animations. And while it’s true that these elements do carry accessibility implications (for example, animations can be distracting for people with attention-related disabilities), accessible design is less about dropping elements and more about applying them for universal access.

A gold banner that reads "Accessible web design is the practice of designing websites and digital experiences in a way that people with disabilities can easily navigate, consume, and interact with the content."

Now here’s the good news: Many of the best practices of accessible design — from writing short, descriptive copy to adding closed captions to all video content — are good for everyone. After all, who doesn’t benefit from clear, skimmable headlines? Or videos that can be watched anywhere, even in noisy environments or with the sound turned off? Even the Grinch would struggle to find a flaw in that.

Here’s how you can optimize your ad creative, including your use of color, images, videos, and email.

1. Brighten the holidays with sufficient color contrast.

Consumers today expect personalized, engaging customer experiences all year long — and those expectations are only heightened during the holidays.

For people with low vision or color blindness, sufficient color contrast can be the difference between a holiday campaign that welcomes them in — and one that is difficult to fully enjoy or understand.

So, why is color contrast so important for the holidays?

Many of the color combinations traditionally associated with the holidays — from white and silver to red and green — have low color contrast when used together.

A yellow lightbulb on a blue background, next to a caption that reads "Color contrast is typically expressed as a ratio, where a higher number means a greater degree of contrast between the two colors. For example, white and black have a contrast ratio of 21 to 1 (the highest possible ratio), while red and green have a contrast ratio of 2.9 to 1."

According to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), there should be a contrast ratio of at least 4.5 to 1 between foreground and background elements (e.g., text on a colored background).

A yellow lightbulb on a blue background, next to a caption that reads "Color contrast matters, but factors like size and font weight also influence the readability of text. If your font is large or bold, you may be able to get away with a lower contrast ratio."

For marketing teams, that doesn’t mean red and green are off-limits this holiday season. Instead, try to pair them with other, more suitable colors. For example, you can pair green with metallic tones like copper and gold. Or, opt for a classic red and white combination (although you’re best served choosing a slightly deeper red, as red and white only have a contrast ratio of 3.9 to 1).

A series of holiday-themed color combinations with sufficient color contrast, including green/pale gold, navy/silver, and red/white.

Ready to test the accessibility of your holiday color palettes?

Try AudioEye's free Color Contrast Checker.

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2. Make your emails accessible (and check them twice)

For many marketing teams, email is the foundation of effective holiday campaigns.

According to research by Mailchimp and Edelman DXI, 9 out of 10 marketers say email is “very to extremely important” to their overall marketing strategy. At the same time, 4 in 5 customers prefer email over any other form of marketing communication.

A yellow lightbulb on a blue background, next to a caption that reads "Email is still the most popular channel for customer engagement, with 93% of customers using it to connect with brands."

Unfortunately, email tends to be one of the least accessible channels for people with visual disabilities. Most email clients aren’t able to match the visual styling that brands can achieve on their websites, which is why many marketing teams use linked images in place of a coded email.

That’s not good for accessibility. Think about all the information the typical promo email includes. You’ve got brand photos, product details, prices, special discounts … the list goes on.

If all that information is conveyed by images alone, people with visual disabilities can be left behind.

An icon of three product cards below a heading that reads "sale", next to a quote that reads "There’s a website I go to all the time that’s great. It’s easy to navigate, everything has a description. I got an email recently and it was just images with no text. It drives me absolutely crazy. They basically said, ‘We have this awesome sale going on. Image. Image. Image.’" that is attributed to Ana Jacob, AudioEye A11iance Advocate.

As a general rule, brands shouldn’t use images as the entire email. And when they do use images, they should make sure each one has descriptive alt text. Here are some more tips to help you craft accessible emails:

  • Underline inline links: Add an underline to your inline link style. Color alone is not enough for people with color vision deficiency (color blindness), who may not notice links without underlines.
  • Keep it short: Use short sentences with one point per sentence. Try to insert the key takeaway or objective at the start of the paragraph. When possible, use bulleted or numbered lists.
  • Provide descriptive links: Descriptive links help users understand where clicking the link will take them. Plus, it can support easy navigation for screen reader users, who use keyboard shortcuts to jump between links.
Two examples of links. One reads "Click here to view our winter jackets" while the other reads "View our winter jackets"

3. Deck the halls with accessible videos.

If you’re selling online in 2024, there’s a good chance that video is a big part of your marketing strategy.

According to HubSpot’s 2024 State of Marketing report, video continues to bring in top ROI among different content formats.

Whether you use video for product demos or social clips for influencer marketing, it’s important to do it in a way that doesn’t exclude anyone. And often, that means adding captions and descriptions of visuals that help everyone enjoy your videos.

A gold banner that reads "Adding captions to your videos can improve the viewer experience for all users, including people in noisy environments and people who primarily speak another language."

Here are four tips to help you make sure your videos are accessible this holiday season:

  1. Invest in high-quality audio:
People with hearing loss tend to be able to hear better — whether they use hearing aids or not — when there is little or no background noise.
  2. Turn off auto-play:
People who are hard of hearing often have the volume on their devices turned up, which can be embarrassing if they’re in a public place and a video starts playing loudly.
  3. Provide captions — and proof them by hand:
There are plenty of programs that will automate captions for your videos, but it’s important to manually proof them. Voice recognition technology isn’t perfect — and “small” mistakes can confuse or frustrate people who rely on captions.
  4. Synchronize captions: Make sure your captions and subtitles appear on screen as close as possible to when they are said in the video. Many people who are deaf have some hearing — and poor timing can be jarring. Oh, and make sure your captions don’t interfere with important visual elements on the screen!

4. Add alt text for picture-perfect holiday campaigns.

It’s no secret that high-quality photos are one of the keys to driving sales. 75% of online shoppers rely on product photos to make a decision, and high-quality photos have a 94% higher conversion rate than low-quality ones.

There are plenty of tips to help you take better photos, from setting up lifestyle shots to getting your lighting just right. But what about making sure that everyone can understand what your images are supposed to convey — even if they can’t perceive them visually?

Unfortunately, image accessibility is a persistent challenge for most retail brands. In fact, our scan of nearly 40,000 enterprise websites found that retailers had one of the highest rates of inaccessible images across all industries.

A gold banner that reads "Our scan of nearly 40,000 enterprise websites found that retailers performed worse-than-average in key areas like image and form accessibility."

So, how can brands ensure that people with visual disabilities can get a complete picture of their holiday ads? The best approach is with descriptive alt text.

A yellow lightbulb on a blue background, next to a caption that reads "Alt text is a written description of an image that screen readers can read out loud — or convert to Braille — for people with visual disabilities, sensory processing disorders, or learning disorders."

Done right, alt text can paint a fuller picture of your products and services for people who use screen readers to navigate websites and social media. Here’s a quick checklist for better alt text:

  • Don’t start with ‘Image of’ or ‘Picture of’:
Screen readers will know from the preceding HTML tag to announce the alt text as an image — so including these phrases in the alt text will only disrupt the user experience.
  • Be descriptive:
People using screen readers can ignore what you write, but they can’t ignore what isn’t there. Include key details and defining traits.
  • Include readable text:
If your images have text (for example: labels that explain product features or benefits), make sure they are either listed in the alt text or described nearby on the page.
  • Write for people, not search engines:
Plenty of marketers make the mistake of stuffing keywords into their site’s alt text, thinking it will help them fool search engines. Here’s the problem, though: Not only can this harm your website’s SEO, but it can also impact the user experience for people who rely on clear, succinct alt text.
A yellow lightbulb on a blue background, next to a caption that reads "Stuck on alt text? Imagine that you’re describing an image over the phone to a friend. What details would you include so they can get a complete picture (pun intended) of the image?"

Our best accessibility tips, wrapped with care.

Download our free checklist to help you create accessible websites, emails, and social media posts.

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An illustrated worker with a headset and chat icons around their head, next to a label that reads "Chapter 4: Prioritize Customer Service

CHAPTER 4

Delight buyers with customer service that’s merry and bright.

Customer service is critical during the holidays. 94% of people say that good service makes them more likely to become repeat customers, and nearly half — and three-fifths of millennials — will pay extra for better customer service.

Whether it’s help finding a product, comparing options, or initiating a return, consumers today expect responsive support. However, customer service teams often find themselves overwhelmed as demand peaks during the holiday season.

A dark and light blue pie chart next to a caption that reads "77% of customers expect to interact with someone immediately when they contact a company." The stat is attributed to Salesforce's Sixth State of the Connected Customer report.

To keep up with the holiday rush, many brands are turning to self-service options like chatbots to help manage the volume of requests.

Unfortunately, this approach can exclude people with disabilities. For example, people with visual impairments might struggle with chatbots that are not optimized for assistive technology, while those with cognitive disabilities might find chatbots confusing or stressful.

A dark and light blue pie chart next to a caption that reads "54% of assistive technology users say that e-commerce companies don’t care about earning their business." The stat is attributed to AudioEye's E-Commerce Accesssibility Experience Survey of AT Users

Help your team work holiday miracles.

If you want to deliver an accessible experience to every shopper, it’s important to remember that people have different communication abilities and preferences. Here’s how you can deliver accessible customer service to every customer:

  • Proactively address accessibility issues:
To borrow a football term, sometimes the best defense is a good offense. If you can proactively find and fix accessibility issues on your website and digital channels before they can impact customers, you’ll lessen the need for a dedicated team of support specialists who can help people get around accessibility issues.
  • Offer live support:
Maintain options for live chat or phone support alongside chatbots. Human agents can provide nuanced assistance and adjust their approach based on individual needs, making interactions more personalized and accessible.
  • Provide multiple options:
Offer support through various channels, including phone, email, social media, and in-person. This allows customers to choose the method that works best for them.
An illustrated worker wearing a headset, next to a quote that reads "It can be really stressful having to call support. You never know what kind of service you’re going to get. Sometimes they’re super helpful, and other times you have to hang up and hope for someone better." The quote is attributed to Marche Roberson, AudioEye A11iance Member.
A blue key with an accessibility symbol unlocking an ornament-shaped keyhole, next to a label that reads "'Tis the Season for Accessibility"

CONCLUSION

‘Tis the season for accessibility

For marketers, the pressure is on to deliver holiday marketing campaigns that inspire, delight, and drive sales.

According to the National Retail Foundation, the 6-8 weeks that make up the holiday shopping season account for roughly 20% of total annual retail sales.

With so many brands competing for the same audience, the pressure is on to create memorable holiday campaigns. Unfortunately, marketers often spend so much time A/B testing subject lines or building audiences for retargeting that they neglect the importance of digital accessibility.

A dark and light blue pie chart next to a caption that reads "75% of marketers believe a personalized experience increases sales and the likelihood of a contact becoming a repeat customer." The stat is attributed to HubSpot's 2024 State of Marketing report.

For people with disabilities, it doesn’t really matter if you have a clever ad or perfect product recommendation. If your ad or landing page isn’t accessible, you didn’t just miss a chance to have a memorable ‘one-to-one’ conversation; you had a memorably bad conversation.

Would you give a second chance to a date who shut you down the whole time? Nope. Not even Santa can save that one. Start out right with your customer relationships. Prioritize accessibility.

Illustrated stacks of money with accessibility symbols on each bill, next to a quote that reads "Accessibility issues have cost a number of companies some decent money because I have to shop elsewhere. And that makes me mad. And I get even madder when I have to get help finishing a purchase because I can’t go elsewhere. And now I actively resent giving them money." The quote is attributed to Chris Preiman, AudioEye A11iance Member.

Win the holidays with digital accessibility.

Ready to optimize your website and marketing campaigns for the holidays? Here’s how AudioEye can help you deliver an accessible, inclusive brand experience to every shopper:

  1. Test your content against the latest accessibility standards.
Many of the most common accessibility barriers can be identified through automated testing. AudioEye’s free Website Accessibility Checker can help you test any URL against the latest accessibility guidelines.
    Scale accessibility with automation.
Our Automated Accessibility Platform monitors your website’s accessibility in real time, automatically fixing common accessibility issues before they can impact your customers.
  2. Manually review key page templates and user flows.
Start by focusing on key pages and user actions, like product pages and checkout flows. This will ensure that the most important areas of your site are accessible to everyone.
  3. Develop a plan for ongoing testing and remediation.
Accessibility requires commitment. Even if you address every WCAG issue, you might accidentally introduce new barriers when adding new content or applying updates — that’s why regular testing is essential for long-term digital compliance. At AudioEye, our Active Monitoring technology tests for accessibility issues with each new visitor — helping you monitor your website’s accessibility in real time.

Don't let accessibility be your New Year's resolution

Learn how AudioEye can help you make your website accessible this holiday season for the 1.3 billion people with a disability.

Watch Demo