Shopping sites have much to learn

By Cathy Reay

Ask any of my friends what my favourite hobby is and they’ll respond, possibly a little too quickly for my liking: shopping.

Visually my temptation is fashion, aurally I love popular music and when it comes to taste buds, there are no barriers.

But with the winter months closing in and Oxford Street preparing to turn itself into London’s Tinseltown, it’s hard to muster the energy to leave the sofa. Luckily, with “e-stores” cropping up all over the web, I don’t have to move an inch.

But how accessible are they? I asked Julie Howell, director of accessibility at Fortune Cookie, the web design experts, to give me some pointers.

One fashion site I go to is www.allsaints.co.uk, though their online selection is limited and their pages have dark colours and scripts that make visiting them hard for anyone with visual impairments, says Julie.

www.asos.com also has scripting problems and is confusing to navigate, she says. It’s a shame these smaller retailers don’t seem to consider making their web­sites accessible for all customers.

When it comes to music, most people will tell you that www.play.com or www.amazon.com are the best for reliable delivery, price and range.

That’s all well and good but if you’re after something a little more “boutique”, I love www.sisterray.co.uk.

It’s brilliant for collectables like that rare Joy Division 12” or the Lou Reed album you can’t remember the title of.

On the downside, its “independent” nature makes it far less accessible than the bigger brand sites.

And so to food. Though a bit pricier than Tesco, www.sainsburys.co.uk is undoubtedly the biggest and best online catalogue; it even promises to deliver within a one-hour time slot, perfect for just before or after work.

As I have a physical impairment, it helps that, on request, its delivery staff will dump my order on the kitchen table for me. But Sainsbury’s relies on that pesky scripting software, too, limiting its potential audience yet again.

If you’re feeling naughty (or maybe just frustrated, after all that browsing), www.thorntons.co.uk delivers cross-country too – for the few of us that can read its site, that is.

Next month, we will be examining obstacles faced by disabled people when doing their shopping.

If you’ve had problems dealing with supermarket staff or in the shopping aisles themselves or navigating a retailer’s website, email cathy.reay@disability­now.org.uk with your name, and contact number (if you have one), describing your experience.