It's a trap!

It’ll probably be no surprise to you that some customers don’t use a mouse to navigate the web, but prefer to use their keyboard.

So let’s learn about what happens when they get stuck in a keyboard trap - and why it matter for your online store.

What’s a keyboard trap?

You’ve seen this UI pattern before. You might even have it on your own ecommerce store:

A promotional modal appears with a tempting offer - 10% off, free shipping, or early access - in exchange for an email address.

But have you tested if that’s where the journey ends?

Have you tested whether someone can tab into the form field, but cannot tab back out again?

In WebAIM’s 2024 Screen Reader User Survey, lack of keyboard accessibility was rated the 5th most problematic issue.

It’s a small frustration. But when small frustrations add up across a site… a missing label here, a confusing form step there… they slowly chip away at trust and patience.

How many frustrations will you allow, before it’s enough to give up and leave?

Why it matters to get this right?

Most of the time, issues like this aren’t intentional.

They’re just a side effect of how modern websites are built - with custom scripts, third-party tools, and popups that look great but don’t always work for everyone.

The fix isn’t complicated. But first, you have to know it’s happening.

Watch what this looks like in the wild.

Then, try it yourself: unplug your mouse and see if you can move freely through your product pages and pop-ups.

If you get stuck, so will some of your customers.

Accessibility isn’t about compliance - it’s about people.

It’s about making sure no customer is left out, no matter how they browse your site.

Talk soon,
Dave

P.S. We’ve all had that “why won’t this thing work?” moment online. If you’ve ever felt stuck or frustrated by a site, I’d love to know what happened - hit reply and share it with me.