Mysa Skincare Optimizing
for All: A WCAG Compliance
Evaluation of Mysa Skincare
Project overview
This project involved a comprehensive accessibility evaluation of the Mysa Skincare website. We aimed to identify usability barriers for users with disabilities and suggest improvements to enhance the overall user experience.
Accessibility isn't a checkbox; it's a key to unlocking the power of your website for everyone
Talayeh Dehghani
About Mysa Skincare
Mysa Skincare is a company offering skincare products. Their website serves as a platform for product information, online purchases, and brand engagement.
Problem Statement
The Mysa Skincare website lacked proper accessibility features, potentially hindering user experience for visitors with disabilities. Our task was to identify these issues and recommend solutions to create a more inclusive website.
Services
Accessibility Audit
WCAG Compliance Review
Approach
In an exploratory phase, I experimented with crafting specific prompts for ChatGPT, a large language model, to generate ideas for alternative text descriptions for images and to brainstorm solutions for improving navigation flow for users with screen readers.
Research
Automated Testing
I gathered resources like accessibility extensions and WCAG guidelines. We familiarized ourselves with common accessibility issues.We scanned the website for WCAG violations using automated tools, focusing on critical usability issues.
Prioritization
I categorized accessibility issues by severity and effort required to fix, prioritizing critical issues with a low fix effort. We identified accessibility issues across various WCAG categories:
High Priority: Keyboard navigation issues, inconsistent focus indicators, insufficient color contrast, missing alt text, unclear error messages.
Medium Priority: Inconsistent heading structure, missing form field labels, lack of keyboard shortcuts. Low Priority: Reliance on color coding without alternative cues.
Reporting
I created a report summarizing findings, categorized by severity and impact. Each issue included recommendations, potential solutions, and screenshots.
Communication & Collaboration
I discussed the report with stakeholders, collaborated on an action plan, and estimated implementation resources.
Documentation
The final step involved presenting the accessibility evaluation report to the developers and stakeholders at Mysa Skincare. We discussed the findings in detail, focusing on the recommended solutions and creating a collaborative action plan for addressing the prioritized accessibility issues. I also estimated the time and resources necessary for implementation, ensuring a realistic approach to website improvements.
By working collaboratively, we identified key areas for improvement in Mysa Skincare's website accessibility.
Recommendations
I provided a list of recommendations to address the identified accessibility issues:
Implement keyboard accessibility for all interactive elements. Ensure consistent focus indicators throughout the website. Adjust color contrast to meet WCAG standards. Provide descriptive alt text for all non-text content. Improve error identification and correction in forms. Review and correct heading structure inconsistencies. Ensure all form fields have clear and descriptive labels. Implement commonly used keyboard shortcuts. Supplement color-coded information with additional cues. Consider implementing live regions for dynamic updates. Conduct thorough testing with various assistive technologies
