How I'd improve Passenger Clothing

What can Passenger Clothing do to remove accessibility barriers and increase their sales? Let's take a look how I'd improve Passenger Clothing.

Accessibility Review: Passenger Clothing Website (Video)

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Passenger Clothing is one of my favorite ecommerce companies. They’re sustainably led, they have great products, and they’re clearly passionate about what they do.

Recently, while browsing their website, I noticed they’ve added an accessibility widget in the footer so I decided to take a closer look at how it performs. Here’s how I’d improve it to help Passenger reduce abandonment and increase sales.

How accessibility issues hurt your revenue

Accessibility isn’t just about being socially responsible - it’s a powerful way to increase conversions and directly impact your bottom line. A recent UK report reveals that 69% of customers who encounter accessibility barriers will leave a website and not return. That’s costly abandonment and lost revenue walking out your digital front door. And with £17.1 billion lost every year due to inaccessible websites, let’s look at how Passenger can avoid being part of that.

Why accessibility overlays aren’t solving the real problem

Passenger’s accessibility widget offers features like:

  • Larger text options
  • Cursor enlargement
  • Line height adjustments
  • Font variations

For customers who need these features, they sound incredibly helpful in theory. However, modern browsers like Firefox, Chrome, and Safari already include these features.

And here’s the thing - the browser usually does a better job than third-party widgets.

Most customers who will benefit from using these assistive technologies already have their systems set up in a way that works for them. So while the intention is good, these widgets often create an extra layer of complexity rather than improving the overall experience for your customers.

Real user experience: friction that drives customers away

To understand the real user experience, I tested both the widget and browser features. When using the widget’s text enlargement and navigating between pages, I noticed a significant delay as the widget tried to “catch up” with the page load.

This layout shift can be quite jarring if it’s the first time you encounter this. And even if you are expecting this behavior, it’s still quite a frustrating experience.

These small friction points matter.

The Baymard Institute found that 23% of customers abandon checkout when the process feels too confusing or difficult. Accessibility issues absolutely contribute to this abandonment rate - whether it’s slow-loading pages, unclear navigation, or costly UX barriers that frustrate customers and reduce sales.

How good UX doubles as accessibility

In contrast, using the browser’s built-in zoom functionality was seamless. Passenger’s responsive design handles browser zoom beautifully, maintaining perfect functionality even at 200% zoom.

The navigation feels intentional, and that’s because it is. There’s no lag, no jumping elements, just a smooth adaptation to the user’s needs.

This demonstrates something powerful: when you invest in good responsive design, you not only create a more inclusive experience – you also optimise for all customers, making your site faster, clearer, and more profitable.

A clear path to more sales (without rebuilding your site)

Here’s what impressed me most about Passenger: they clearly care. Adding an accessibility widget shows they’re thinking about inclusion and trying to do the right thing. But they don’t need the widget. With just a few focused adjustments, they could reduce cart abandonment, unlock more revenue, and deliver a better experience to all customers.

Now - this is surprisingly common. In fast-paced ecommerce environments, accessibility considerations often slip through the cracks. But this isn’t about blame - it’s about the opportunity.

Remove accessibility barriers, win more customers

Consider this: 96% of websites currently have detectable accessibility issues on their homepage

By addressing even a portion of these issues, you’re immediately outperforming most of the internet. And removing accessibility barriers isn’t just the right thing to do - it’s one of the easiest growth opportunities in your checkout and a legitimate competitive advantage.

When you improve accessibility, you:

Moving forward

The goal here isn’t perfection - it’s progress.

Focus on removing barriers that prevent customers from completing their purchases – fixing these friction points is key to increasing conversions and long-term loyalty. Test your checkout flow, navigation, and core customer journeys to identify and fix the issues that might be costing you sales.

Remember: inclusive design is good business. Every barrier you remove is a potential customer retained.