A UX & Accessibility Case Study
Fixing a broken sign-up, cuts drop-off by 35%
How simplifying a fragmented, inaccessible form for a global recruitment company cut drop-off by 35%.
- Form Audit
- WCAG 2.2 Review
- Journey Simplification
- Progressive Profiling
Section 01 — The Spark
Why aren't people finishing sign-up?
A global recruitment company was struggling to convert interested visitors into job-alert subscribers. The sign-up looked routine on the surface - but the data told a different story.
"Why aren't people finishing the job-alert sign-up?"
— Product team
Sign-up Friction
4 — Painful
Scale
1 = Effortless · 5 = Painful
before completion
personal + employment mixed
errors flagged on the form
Section 02 — The Confusion
Three steps. Mixed asks. Inaccessible form.
Research showed the user journey was broken into a three-step process that mixed required and optional fields, and asked for personal and employment information in the same flow. On top of that, missing form labels and unannounced validation errors meant assistive-tech users were locked out before they could even finish.
"Every extra step is an exit. Every missing label is a closed door."
Section 03 — The Solution
One screen. Fewer fields. Accessible by default.
Rather than patch each step, I rebuilt the form around a single principle: ask only what's needed to create the account, then let users enhance their profile later - all while making the experience WCAG 2.2 compliant.
Step 1
Collapse to a single screen
Strip the form back to the minimum viable field set required to create a profile — removing the multi-step flow entirely.
Section 04 — The Outcome
Less form. More finishers.
Simplifying the field set and fixing the accessibility failures didn't just help screen-reader users - it lifted completion across the board.
- Reduction in job-alert sign-up drop-off
- 35%Reduction in job-alert sign-up drop-off
- Single screen replacing a three-step form
- 1Single screen replacing a three-step form
- Compliant labels, semantics, and validation
- WCAG 2.2Compliant labels, semantics, and validation
One screen, one job
Only ask for what's needed to create the account. Everything else can wait until the user is in.
Progressive profiling
Enrich the profile after sign-in, not before. Motivation to share details is higher once the user has something to lose.
Accessibility is conversion
Semantic labels, autocomplete, and announceable validation lift completion rates for everyone — not just assistive-tech users.
The Bottom Line
Less form. More finishers.
By collapsing three steps into one, deferring non-essential fields to post-login, and rebuilding the form to WCAG 2.2 standards, I turned a leaky sign-up into a reliable channel for job-alert subscribers.
Pull-stat
A 35% reduction in drop-off - by asking for less and labelling it properly.
Back to PortfolioUX Audit · Global Recruitment · Job Alert Sign-up