How CarbonCart Rewrote Checkout to Improve Accessibility and Lift Conversion by 18%

Tech · 6 min read

CarbonCart's checkout historically suffered from a high abandonment rate and a disproportionate number of support tickets from customers with assistive needs. The product and design teams decided to audit the experience through both automated accessibility scanners and user testing with participants who use screen readers and alternative input devices.

The redesign simplified the form flow, introduced inline validation, increased touch targets, and implemented semantic HTML to improve screen reader compatibility. They also adopted autofill-friendly field order and added clear error explanations with recovery suggestions. Designers created an accessible color palette and contrast checks to ensure compliance with WCAG AA for key states.

After shipping, CarbonCart saw an 18% lift in completed checkouts and a 33% drop in support tickets linked to form issues. The team notes that some aesthetic compromises were necessary to meet contrast and spacing guidelines, but the business impact validated the change. The case ends with a checklist CarbonCart used to keep future features aligned with accessibility goals.