A multi-criteria accessibility index for quantifying digital fairness in e-commerce

Abstract

The research is situated within the debate on fair, sustainable, and inclusive information systems. It focuses on the analysis of the digital accessibility of Amazon’s marketplaces and widely accepted standards, alongside legal differences related to the European Accessibility Act (EAA). The study aims to analyze the intersection of digital accessibility and fairness on global e-commerce platforms. In the context of sustainable and inclusive software systems, the study critically assesses the extent to which Amazon adheres to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) in various regional domains. The purpose of the article is to present the proposed approach to studying digital accessibility for more sustainable and fair e-commerce systems. For the purpose of the study, a measure of digital accessibility was proposed, and a quantitative analysis of the level of WCAG compliance was conducted based on the results obtained after analyzing the homepages and selected product pages. The empirical research was repeated twice, six months apart, to observe the direction of change in the context of the need for some marketplaces to comply with EAA regulations. The analysis reveals significant disparities in accessibility implementation, often correlating with the presence or absence of international regulatory mandates, such as the EAA. These findings highlight a systemic trade-off in which compliance-driven enhancements in certain locations coincide with accessibility deficits elsewhere. The study contributes to the discourse on fairness in software systems by demonstrating how uneven regulatory pressures can result in inequitable user experiences. Using the proposed aggregate measure, an analysis of changes in the digital accessibility of all Amazon marketplaces over time was conducted, showing that regulations affect the fairness of information systems. In addition, the effectiveness of the introduced metric was verified, opening up possibilities for its wider use to improve the quality of information systems. • Digital accessibility is a critical dimension of fairness and inclusivity. • Compliance with accessibility standards varies across regional versions. • International regulations play a pivotal role in enforcing fairness. • Design choices that aid some markets may unintentionally marginalize others.

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 1 citations exist upstream.

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.