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What the act covers
The European Accessibility Act, Directive (EU) 2019/882, wants people with disabilities to be able to buy and book on their own. It covers services through which a consumer concludes a contract at a distance: a webshop, a booking site, an app you order or reserve in, plus banking, e-books and passenger transport. Member states wrote it into their own laws; the requirements are the same everywhere, while exemptions, enforcement and fines follow each country. The full background is in our guide to the European Accessibility Act, and how far shops got after a year in EU accessibility law one year on.
A microenterprise needs both conditions: fewer than ten staff, and a turnover or a balance sheet of at most 2 million euro. A company of eight people with 5 million euro in turnover and balance sheet is not one, and is in scope. Selling outside the EU too? See ADA website compliance and UK website accessibility law; our accessibility statement template covers all three.
Three dates that count
- 28 June 2025The act appliesWebshops and booking sites for EU consumers.
- Until they endExisting contractsSigned before 28 June 2025, at most five years.
- 28 June 2030Belgian delay endsMicroenterprises in Belgium must be ready too.
What WCAG 2.1 AA asks in practice
The technical bar is the European standard EN 301 549, which for websites comes down to WCAG 2.1 level AA. That is dozens of criteria, but five catch most errors in a webshop:
| Criterion | What it asks | Typical mistake | What fixes it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Text alternative (1.1.1) | a description for each product photo | empty alt or a file name | one sentence per photo |
| Contrast (1.4.3) | normal text at least 4.5 to 1 | light grey text, white on light blue | colours in your stylesheet |
| Keyboard (2.1.1) | everything works without a mouse | a menu or filter that opens only on hover | a code change |
| Visible focus (2.4.7) | you see where you are with Tab | focus outline removed for looks | one rule in the stylesheet |
| Labels (3.3.2) | every field has a visible label | only a placeholder inside the field | reworked forms |
You also have to explain how your service meets the requirements, in writing and in an accessible form. An accessibility statement is the clearest way, though under that name it is only mandatory for public bodies.
An overlay plugin or fixing the site
The question shop owners ask first, side by side.
- What changes
- Overlay plugina widget on top of your pages
- Fixing the siteyour code, colours, forms and texts
- Keyboard and forms
- Overlay pluginusually still broken underneath
- Fixing the sitework, because they are built right
- Meets EN 301 549
- Overlay pluginno, the standard tests the site itself
- Fixing the siteyes, when every criterion is met
- Cost
- Overlay plugina monthly fee
- Fixing the sitea one-off effort, smaller at the build
An overlay does not make a shop compliant. Fixing the checkout, the forms and the contrast does.
What fixing it costs, before or after the build
For a shop with 200 products, alt texts at a minute per product take over three hours, before or after. Colours and focus are part of the design in a new build; afterwards they take four to eight hours. Making menu, filters and cart work by keyboard is part of a new build, and one to three days afterwards. Forms with labels and error messages take four to eight hours afterwards, and a test with screen reader and keyboard a day. A theme with many plugins often costs more. Whoever builds a webshop today does best to build it accessible from the start: see webshop development.
Accessibility is not the only EU rule for a shop: there is the withdrawal button, a privacy policy, a cookie banner if you measure with cookies, and your company details on the site. Accessibility and conversion also share many mistakes: see why is my online store not selling.
Themes and countries
Does my Shopify or WooCommerce theme count as accessible?
Not by itself. A theme can be a good base, but your colours, photos, apps and texts decide whether the site complies. Test after every change.
Which country's rules apply if we sell across the EU?
The requirements are the same everywhere; enforcement and exemptions follow the law of each member state you sell into. Build to WCAG 2.1 AA and you meet the core in every market.