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The European Accessibility Act is EU Directive 2019/882: since 28 June 2025, online shops, consumer banking, e-books and other digital services sold to consumers in the EU must be usable by people with disabilities. Someone who uses only a keyboard, enlarges text or has a screen reader read the page aloud must be able to choose a product, order, pay and return it on their own.
This guide says whether your site falls under it, what inspectors look at, what non-compliance can cost and how to tackle it in four weeks. The short answer to "must my website be accessible" is in European Accessibility Act website requirements; what changed a year after the start is in EU accessibility law one year on.
| Situation | Covered? | From when |
|---|---|---|
| Online shop selling to EU consumers, 10 staff or more | yes | 28 June 2025 |
| Online shop selling to consumers, micro-enterprise | directive: exempt for services; Belgium: yes, with a delay; Germany: exempt | Belgium: 28 June 2030 |
| Site where consumers book and pay for a service, such as a trip or a course | yes | 28 June 2025 |
| Restaurant or salon: booking without payment | no, per the Belgian guidance | not applicable |
| Service business with information and a contact form only | no, not an e-commerce service | not applicable |
| Shop for businesses only, consumers truly blocked | no | not applicable |
| Business outside the EU selling to EU consumers | yes, under the law of each country you sell into | 28 June 2025 |
If you are unsure about your own case, the national law decides, not this table; have it checked by a lawyer.
The directive covers any business that offers such a service to consumers in the EU, so a shop in London, New York or Zurich that sells to customers in Germany or Belgium falls under it too. What it does not cover: a site where only businesses can buy, a site that only publishes articles, and a booking form where nobody pays online.
The examples below set Belgium against Germany: two countries that wrote the same directive into law and still treat a small online seller differently. How we build shops that pass these checks is on webshop development. Outside the EU rules, see ADA website compliance and our research on ADA website lawsuits for the US, UK website accessibility law for Britain, the German Accessibility Act for Germany's version, and our accessibility statement template for the statement itself.
What compliance asks of your shop, in plain words
The directive asks that websites and apps be perceivable, operable, understandable and robust. For an online shop that means:
- PerceivableEvery image that carries information has a text alternative, text has enough contrast, and nothing breaks when a visitor zooms in or widens letter and line spacing. Colour is never the only signal.
- OperableEverything works with a keyboard, including the menu, the filters and the checkout. Moving content can be paused, forms have no time limits, and there is no picture CAPTCHA a blind customer cannot solve.
- UnderstandableShort sentences, clear instructions and error messages that say what went wrong.
- RobustThe code says what things are: real headings, lists, buttons and form labels that a screen reader recognises.
Three requirements sit outside your code. You publish, in your terms and conditions or an accessibility statement, how the service meets the requirements and where it falls short. Your support team can answer questions about accessibility. And you pass on the accessibility information about the products you sell when your supplier gives it to you.
The directive names no checklist. In practice, builders test against WCAG 2.1 level AA, which the European standard EN 301 549 uses for websites; WCAG 2.2 is the newest version and adds a few criteria.
Unsure about your own case?
National guidance explains the law; it is not the law itself. If you want to rely on an exemption, such as a disproportionate burden, or sell into a country not covered here, have a lawyer in that country look at it before you notify an authority.
Belgium and Germany apply the same directive differently
Each EU country wrote the directive into its own law. You follow the law of each country where your customers are.
- In force
- Belgium (Code of Economic Law)28 June 2025
- Germany (BFSG)28 June 2025
- Micro-enterprises providing services (fewer than 10 staff, turnover or balance sheet up to 2 million euros)
- Belgium (Code of Economic Law)Not exempt: they have until 28 June 2030
- Germany (BFSG)Exempt
- Who checks online shops
- Belgium (Code of Economic Law)The Economic Inspection of the federal economy ministry (FOD Economie)
- Germany (BFSG)A market surveillance authority, also through random checks
- Fines
- Belgium (Code of Economic Law)Administrative fine of 260 to 100,000 euros or up to 4 percent of annual turnover
- Germany (BFSG)Up to 100,000 euros for a service that does not comply
- Relying on an exemption
- Belgium (Code of Economic Law)Document it and notify the inspection in advance
- Germany (BFSG)Document it and inform the authority without delay
A small company outside the EU that sells into both countries may be exempt in Germany and still owe compliance in Belgium from 2030. Check each market you sell into.
What happens when a customer complains
In Belgium a customer who gets stuck can file a complaint with the Economic Inspection, which says within thirty days whether it will investigate. It can give a warning or draw up an official report straight away, which can lead to a settlement or an administrative fine. Outsourcing does not shift the duty: if your platform or your developer falls short, you remain responsible.
Old media buy you time: video and office documents published before 28 June 2025 do not have to comply until you change them. Your current website does not: the Belgian guidance states that the websites and apps of every company that is not a micro-enterprise had to comply from that date.
If you sell from outside the EU
The EAA follows the customer, not the company. If EU consumers can buy from your site, the pages they need to decide, order, follow up and cancel have to comply. A blog with no offer on it does not. Start with the countries that bring in most of your EU orders, read their national law, and put one accessibility statement in your terms that covers the whole shop, in every language you sell in; see multilingual website development.
What making a shop accessible costs, by type of shop
The law names no amount, and the cost depends less on the size of your shop than on what it runs on:
| Your shop | Where the work is | Who does it |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify or another platform with a theme | The theme, apps that add buttons or pop-ups, your product images and text | You or your developer: platform and theme are a starting point, not a guarantee |
| WooCommerce or WordPress | Theme, plugins, forms and your payment provider's checkout | Your developer, and the plugins you keep updated |
| A custom shop | The code itself: headings, labels, focus, contrast, error messages | Your developer, right at the build, then with every change |
| Every shop | Alt text, clear copy, the accessibility statement, a helpdesk that can answer | You |
The cheapest moment is the build: fixing afterwards means reopening every template. What a store costs on Shopify is in how much does Shopify cost.
Other EU rules that hit your shop
Accessibility does not come alone. An EU shop also needs a privacy policy, consent for cookies that measure or advertise (see do I need a cookie banner), and a mandatory withdrawal button is coming. Tackle them together: the same checkout, the same test.
A four-week plan for a live shop
- Week 1Measure
- Your checkout with only the keyboard
- A product page with a screen reader
- A list of what breaks, per page
- Week 2The path to the order
- Search, product, cart and payment first
- Form labels and errors in text
- Remove picture CAPTCHAs
- Week 3Images and text
- A description for every product image with information
- Contrast, and zoom to 200 percent
- Captions on new videos
- Week 4Put it on record
- Accessibility in your terms or a statement
- Support can answer questions about it
- Test again after every change
Which pages must comply
Must comply
- Product pages
- Cart and payment
- Account and sign-in
- Terms, cancellation and returns
Can stay as is
- A blog with no offer on it
- A clearly marked archive
- Video and PDFs published before 28 June 2025 that you no longer change
Test your own checkout in an afternoon
- Place an order from start to finish using only the keyboard: Tab, Enter and the arrow keys.
- Zoom the browser to 200 percent and check that the checkout button is still there.
- Turn on the screen reader of your computer or phone and let it read a product page.
- Fill in a form wrongly and read whether the error says what is wrong.
- Check that every product image that carries information has a description.
- Check that sign-in and payment work without a picture CAPTCHA.
- Cancel or return an order without a mouse.
- Publish how accessible your shop is in your terms or an accessibility statement, and brief your support team on it.
Questions sellers ask about the EAA
Does the European Accessibility Act apply to companies outside the EU?
Yes, if you offer the service to consumers in the EU. The directive defines a service provider as anyone who provides the service on the EU market or offers it to consumers in the Union.
Does it apply if I only sell to businesses?
Not if your site really keeps consumers from buying. As soon as a private customer can close a contract through it, it counts as an e-commerce service.
Is a small company exempt?
Under the directive, micro-enterprises providing services are exempt, and Germany kept that. Belgium did not: it gives them until 28 June 2030. Check the law of each country you sell into.
My shop runs on Shopify or WooCommerce. Is the platform responsible?
No, you are. Your theme, your apps and your content decide much of the result, so test your own checkout.
Do I need an accessibility statement?
You must give information on how your service is accessible, in your terms or an equivalent document. A separate accessibility statement page is the clearest way to do it.