Gmarket Enhances Shopping Accessibility for Visually Impaired... "Expanding Alternative Text"

Expansion of Alternative Text Provision for Screen Readers
Continuous Efforts to Improve Web Accessibility

Gmarket announced on the 31st that it will strengthen its "accessibility improvement" efforts to enhance shopping convenience for visually impaired individuals. This includes expanding the provision of alternative text and improving navigation functions. Alternative text refers to descriptions or phrases that help visually impaired people understand photos or images.

First, Gmarket will improve the scope of alternative text provision to ensure no information is omitted. The service will be enhanced so that buttons composed of visual icons or images can be properly guided through screen readers (mobile screen reading software). Examples include the "Close Popup Button" and "Secret Post Inquiry."

The focus position and movement functions of screen readers will also be improved. The focus will move according to the shopping path of users to ensure there are no difficulties in page navigation. Furthermore, efficient navigation functions will be strengthened to prevent unnecessary repeated guidance.

This accessibility improvement effort is characterized by incorporating site design and planning that considers alternative text from the initial update planning stage. It was planned so that anyone can navigate using only a keyboard, and visually impaired individuals directly participated in testing to verify accessibility.

Jina Lee, Manager of the Web Frontend Team, said, "We will continue to work on improving web accessibility, including opening a screen reader manual within the first half of the year so that screen reader users can enjoy online shopping conveniently." She added, "We plan to continue related improvement work based on our own technology so that both disabled and non-disabled people can use the same shopping services."