A US lawsuit against Domino’s Pizza has highlighted that popular food delivery apps are yet to meet accessibility standards for users with vision disabilities, despite universal guidelines having existed for a decade.
Which-50 has confirmed several leading food ordering apps in Australia do not fully meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, the global standards for web content released in 2008. Australian versions of Deliveroo, UberEats, and Domino’s applications and web sites do not yet fully comply with WCAG 2.0, although all of these companies have said they are continuing to improve their digital accessibility and already offer some assistive features.
But by not meeting WCAG standards, the companies risk excluding people with disabilities from their digital offerings or burdening them with inconsistent accessibility features, according to accessibility experts. “Accessibility barriers stop people with a disability doing the most ordinary activities that other people do day-to-day,” said Sean Murphy, a director at the Digital Gap Initiative, an Australian organisation advocating for digital accessibility awareness and reform.
Murphy, who is blind, told Which-50 accessibility barriers can stop people using many of the online tools others take for granted – like paying a bill, ordering takeaway or buying a ticket to an event. But as digital technology becomes more commonplace, the potential barriers expand too.
