European Accessibility Act: what it means for online shops

What the European Accessibility Act is

The European Accessibility Act (EAA) is Directive (EU) 2019/882. It sets common accessibility requirements for selected products and services. E-commerce services, meaning selling goods and services to consumers through a website or app, are among them. The obligations apply from 28 June 2025.

Each member state has its own law that implements the directive, and its own market surveillance authority, often the consumer protection authority. The core requirements are the same everywhere, because they come from the directive and the harmonised standard. The aim is that people with visual, hearing, motor or cognitive impairments, and older people, can complete a purchase.

Who it applies to

A shop has the obligation when both are true:

• It sells to consumers (B2C). A shop that sells only to businesses is out of scope.
• It is not a microenterprise. A microenterprise has fewer than 10 employees and an annual turnover or balance sheet total of at most €2 million.

The operator is responsible, not the platform. A shop on Shopify, WooCommerce or PrestaShop has the same obligation as a custom build. The platform can provide an accessible theme, but content, images, banners, apps and texts are yours. Selling into another EU country brings that country’s rules too. Even a microenterprise has good reason to care: an accessible shop is clearer on mobile and sells more to everyone.

What is actually required

National laws point to the harmonised standard EN 301 549, which for websites takes over WCAG 2.1 at level AA. WCAG rests on four principles: content must be perceivable (image descriptions, contrast), operable (keyboard, enough time), understandable (clear form errors) and robust enough to work with assistive technology such as screen readers.

Besides the site itself, the shop must publish information on how the service meets the accessibility requirements, usually as an accessibility statement on its own page or in the terms. The whole path to purchase must be accessible: search, category listing, product page, cart, checkout and payment, and also the cookie banner and chat when they cover content.

How to check your shop yourself

A full WCAG audit has more than fifty criteria. This half-hour check shows whether your shop is close or far.

1. Run an automated test

   In Chrome open the developer tools (F12), the Lighthouse tab, tick Accessibility and run it for the home page, a category and a product. Automated tests find roughly a third of the problems, mainly contrast, missing descriptions and missing field labels. A score of 100 does not mean the site is accessible.

2. Buy something using only the keyboard

   Put the mouse away. Use Tab to move, Enter to confirm, arrow keys to choose. You must always see where the focus is and get from the home page to placing the order. Typical traps: size selectors, the cart pop-up, shipping choice and the cookie banner.

3. Zoom to 200%

   Press Ctrl and + until the zoom is 200%. Text must not overlap or disappear, and you must not need to scroll sideways. Check the same on a phone with larger text in the system settings.

4. Check images and banners

   Banners with text baked into the image are empty for a screen reader. Every image that carries information needs a description (alt text). A product photo needs at least the product name; decoration needs an empty description.

5. Submit an empty form

   In the checkout, submit without filling anything in. The error must be written in words next to the specific field, not just shown with a red border. Every field needs a visible label, not only grey placeholder text that disappears as you type.

6. Try a screen reader

   NVDA is free on Windows; VoiceOver is built into the Mac (Cmd+F5). Try to find a product and add it to the cart using only what the screen reader says. Buttons announced as just “button”, and icons with no text, are common findings.

The most common faults on shops

• Low contrast on grey text, sale prices and white text on light buttons.
• Cart, search and wishlist icons with no text label.
• Variant selectors (size, colour) that cannot be used with a keyboard.
• A cookie banner or pop-up that cannot be closed with the keyboard and blocks the rest of the page.
• No accessibility statement.

This guide is a practical overview, not legal advice. In borderline cases (company size, selling to both businesses and consumers, several countries) confirm your obligation with a lawyer.