Spryker’s Commitment to Digital Accessibility & EAA Compliance
Sprykers's ongoing commitment roadmap for supporting digital inclusion & compliance with the European Accessibility Act (EAA).
We are dedicated to creating accessible digital experiences for all users, regardless of their abilities. Our roadmap details the steps we are taking to ensure our products and services meet the highest accessibility standards, enhance user experience, and foster inclusivity. It reflects our commitment to continuous improvement, innovation, and collaboration with stakeholders to create a more inclusive digital world.
Our Commitment to Inclusion & Belonging
Organizational Measures to drive inclusion in our workplace
Accessibility Roadmap for our Product
Feedback Loop & Contact at Spryker
Spryker's Inclusion, Diversity and Equality Statement
To provide informed, authentic leadership for cultural equity, Spryker wants to be a role model for our industry.
We contribute to an inclusive culture & a Safe-place-to-work. We see diversity, inclusion, and equity as connected to our mission and critical to ensuring the well-being of our staff and the customers we serve.
We believe that Sprykees, customers and partners always come first. Our herd is the most important element to our success. This is why we want to purposefully acknowledge and dismantle any inequities within our policies, systems, programs, and services, and continually update and report organizational progress.
We embed Respect & Tolerance into our Leadership Principles. Respect and tolerance are pillars to our leadership. We expect all employees to embrace this notion and to express it in workplace interactions and through everyday practices.
We champion diversity. You are important to Spryker. This is why we want to advocate for and support board-level thinking about how systemic inequities impact our organization’s work, and how best to address that in a way that is consistent with our mission. We do this so that you always feel your contributions are valued and seen.
We aspire to be thought leaders and set an example in our industry. Knowledge and learning about inequalities and differences will help us kindly and compassionately challenge assumptions about what it takes to be a strong leader or AAA player at our organization, who is well-positioned to provide thought leadership.
We contribute to the world through Belonging & Empowerment. Connection and Empowerment of the herd will make us stronger, think more outside of the box, reach for moonshots, and encourage each other to try things that we did not think were possible before.
We take responsibility. The responsibility to commit resources and time to expand more diverse leadership within our board, staff, committee, and advisory bodies is a value that we drive as a herd.
The European Accessibility Act & Digital Inclusivity
A digital world for everyone
The European Accessibility Act (Directive 2019/882) sets crucial standards for ensuring that products and services are accessible to all, putting special attention to including people with special needs.
In Germany, compliance with this directive is essential not only for meeting legal requirements but also for promoting digital inclusivity across industries. By 2025, businesses must ensure their digital offerings—such as websites, apps, and e-commerce platforms—are fully accessible and allow participation and benefits for everyone.
This goal extends beyond mere compliance. Embracing accessibility fosters innovation, broadens market reach, and enhances user experience for everyone, regardless of ability.
Prioritizing digital inclusivity not only aligns companies with regulatory standards but also demonstrates a commitment to social responsibility, equality, and long-term competitiveness in the digital age.
Making accessibility a cornerstone of digital transformation ensures that no one is left behind.
Our Accessibility Statement
Accessibility: Decoded
Accessibility refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people who experience disabilities. The goal is to ensure that all users, regardless of their physical, cognitive, or sensory abilities, can access, understand, and use our digital products effectively.
Levels of Accessibility
Basic Accessibility: Ensures that content and functionality are accessible to users with disabilities. This includes providing text alternatives for non-text content, ensuring all functionalities are available from a keyboard, and making content readable and understandable.
Intermediate Accessibility: This level builds upon basic accessibility by enhancing user experience and addressing a wider range of disabilities. It includes additional support for people with cognitive and learning disabilities, better color contrast, and improved navigation and user interface elements.
Advanced Accessibility: Aims for universal design where the product is usable by all people to the greatest extent possible without the need for adaptation. This includes implementing best practices for all types of disabilities, ensuring compatibility with assistive technologies, and continuously improving accessibility based on user feedback and technological advancements.
What Accessibility Means to Us
Accessibility means creating an inclusive digital environment where everyone has participative and actionable access to our products and services by removing barriers that prevent interaction with or access to websites and digital tools by people with special needs.
At Spryker, we believe that everyone should have the opportunity to participate fully in the digital world.
To extend the usage of our digital products to a wider audience, we commit to meeting the following minimum technical requirements:
Perceivable information and user interface: Provide text alternatives for non-text content, ensure content is adaptable and distinguishable, and offer alternatives for time-based media.
Operable User Interface and Navigation: Make all functionality available from a keyboard, provide users enough time to read and use content, avoid content that causes seizures, and help users navigate and find content.
Understandable Information and User Interface: Make text content readable and understandable, ensure web pages appear and operate in predictable ways, and help users avoid and correct mistakes.
Robust Content and Reliable Interpretation: Maximize compatibility with current and future user tools, including assistive technologies.
Organizational Measures
Adding value to digital inclusivity at Spryker
Upcoming Certifications Roadmap
(18 Months)
Goal to have a Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC) member by Q3 2025.
Commitment to obtaining and displaying relevant accessibility certifications by 2025 (e.g., WCAG, EN 301 549).
Training and Awareness
Regular training programs for employees
Understanding Accessibility: Overview of accessibility principles and their importance.
WCAG Standards: Introduction to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and how they apply.
Designing for All Users: Best practices for creating inclusive and accessible user interfaces.
Testing for Accessibility: How to use tools and assistive technologies to test for accessibility issues.
Use of ARIA: Correctly using Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA) to enhance accessibility.
Accessibility Audits
For the user experience & collaboration
Plan for regular accessibility audits by certified professionals.
Frequency of audits and key focus areas.
Methodology for addressing audit findings and continuous improvement.
Spryker Product-Specific Advancements
Adhering to WCAG 2.1 Level AA will ensure that our digital content and services are accessible to a broader audience, including people with disabilities or special needs.
Web and Mobile Accessibility
The European Accessibility Act mandates adherence to the European standard EN 301 549, incorporating the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1. WCAG, developed by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) under the W3C, aims to make web content accessible for people with disabilities.
Key Points on WCAG:
Purpose: To provide technical recommendations for making web content, electronic documents, and non-web software (e.g., mobile apps) accessible.
Global Influence: WCAG is the basis for accessibility legislation worldwide, such as the ADA in the US and the EU Web Accessibility Directive.
Principles of WCAG:
Perceivable: Information and UI components must be presented in ways users can perceive.
Operable: All functionality and navigation must be usable.
Understandable: Information and UI operation must be comprehensible.
Robust: Content must be adaptable to various current and future assistive technologies.
Compliance Levels:
Level A: Basic requirements (e.g., text alternatives for non-text content).
Level AA: Intermediate requirements often cited in accessibility laws (e.g., consistent navigation).
Level AAA: Optimal accessibility with stringent requirements (e.g., high-contrast text).
Spryker’s Product worked on the requirements for the EEA 2025, along with the WCAG 2.1 guidelines, and prioritized them accordingly.
Here is how we are approaching meeting these standards, as of September 2024:
Our delivery will be divided into 3 phases.
Phase 1 is currently underway and focuses on the most crucial topics such as:
Fixing contrast issues
Adding text alternatives for images
Enabling keyboard navigation
This will consider the following product components:
Back office (est. delivery start of Q4)
B2B Storefront
Merchant Portal
Completing Phase 1, we aim to boost our Google Lighthouse accessibility score and address key web accessibility requirements.
Upon the completion of Phase 1, we will proceed to the subsequent phases. The timelines and details of accessibility improvements will be added to this living document in their new versions.
Our Ongoing Commitment
At Spryker, we continually reaffirm our genuine commitment to accessibility and inclusion.
Creating an inclusive digital environment is an ongoing journey, and we are dedicated to ensuring that our products are accessible to all users.
We recognize that the best way to achieve this is through collaboration and active engagement with our customers, partners and stakeholders. Your insights and experiences are vital in helping us enhance our products.
We encourage you to share your feedback, suggestions, and any accessibility concerns.
The future belongs to all and real digital transformation does not leave anyone behind.– Lily Kriegs - Inclusive Culture & Belonging Partner at Spryker
NUWAN WITHANAGE
Team Lead Product Design
Nuwan is a Leading Product designer and UX Expert focused on inclusive, user-centered design for tech, B2B, and SaaS products. He prioritizes empathy, collaboration, and diversity, using research to drive impactful business results.
Lily Kriegs is a seasoned leader in the global tech sector, specializing in employee engagement, organizational development, and building inclusive company cultures. She developed the BEET Framework to enhance workplace emotional climate. As an Inclusive Culture & Belonging Partner at Spryker, she promotes employee well-being, support, and diversity and inclusion.
Spryker is the leading global composable commerce platform for enterprises with sophisticated business models to enable growth, innovation, and differentiation. Designed specifically for sophisticated transactional businesses, Spryker’s easy-to-use, headless, API-first model offers a best-of-breed approach that provides businesses the flexibility to adapt, scale, and quickly go to market while facilitating faster time-to-value throughout their digital transformation journey. As a global platform leader for B2B and B2C Enterprise Marketplaces, IoT Commerce, and Unified Commerce, Spryker has empowered 150+ global enterprise customers worldwide and is trusted by brands such as ALDI, Siemens, ZF Friedrichshafen, and Ricoh. Spryker is a privately held technology company headquartered in Berlin and New York backed by world class investors such as TCV, One Peak, Project A, Cherry Ventures, and Maverick Capital. Learn more at spryker.com.
