Does your website or online shop have to be accessible? The European Accessibility Act in plain language

The European Accessibility Act has applied throughout the European Union since 28 June 2025. It requires many businesses to make their digital services usable for people with a disability. What does that mean for your website or online shop?

What is accessibility?

An accessible website can be used by everyone: including people who have poor eyesight, find it hard to tell colours apart, cannot use a mouse or need a screen reader that reads the page aloud. That covers more people than you think, and also anyone trying to read your site on a phone in the sun.

Who does the law apply to?

The European Accessibility Act targets a range of products and services for consumers. For most SMEs one category matters: selling online to consumers. An online shop, a booking platform or a site where customers enter into a contract falls under it. Banking services, e-books and passenger transport, among others, are also included.

There is an exception for micro-enterprises that provide services: businesses with fewer than ten employees and an annual turnover or balance sheet total of at most two million euros. A website that only gives information and sells nothing usually does not fall under the law either.

Not sure whether your business is covered? Put the question to your lawyer or your sector federation. This article is not legal advice.

What exactly is expected?

In practice, the international guidelines for accessibility (WCAG, level AA) are used as the yardstick. The main points in plain language:

• Enough contrast. Light grey text on white is unreadable for many people.
• Everything works with the keyboard. Menu, forms and shopping basket must be usable without a mouse.
• Images have a description. A screen reader reads it aloud.
• Forms say what is wrong. Not just a red border, but in words too.
• A logical structure. Headings and subheadings in the right order, so that someone can jump through the page quickly.
• Text can be made larger. Without the page breaking.
• Videos have subtitles.

A good idea even without an obligation

What makes a site accessible makes it better for everyone. Clear buttons and forms bring in more orders. And a logical structure with described images is exactly what search engines and AI assistants need to understand your page.

Doing a first test yourself

1. Put your mouse aside and try to order something or send a form using the Tab key.
2. Zoom your browser in to 200 per cent. Does everything stay readable?
3. Look at your site outdoors, on your phone, in bright light.
4. Fill in a form incorrectly on purpose. Do you understand what you need to correct?

Accessibility is cheapest when it is built in from the start. With every website and online shop we build, we take it into account in the design and the code.