European Accessibility Act: what your web shop needs to fix

Since 28 June 2025, European accessibility rules apply to online shops and a range of other consumer services. Whether your site is covered depends on what you sell and how big your company is. Below is how to check that, what “accessible” means in technical terms, and what you can review in WordPress yourself.

What the European Accessibility Act covers

The European Accessibility Act (EAA) is an EU directive that member states have translated into national law. The aim is straightforward: certain products and services must be usable by people with disabilities. Think of someone using a screen reader, someone who cannot use a mouse, or someone who struggles with low colour contrast.

Alongside e-commerce, the directive names consumer banking, e-books, telecoms, transport information and payment terminals. The obligations apply from 28 June 2025. For services already in use and for certain equipment, the directive allows transition periods; which one applies to you is set out in the legal text and in your national implementation. For the Dutch context, see Digitale Overheid.

One difference from earlier rules: those applied to government websites. The EAA reaches private businesses too, and that includes ordinary web shops.

Is your shop covered? Three questions

1. Do you sell online to consumers? If a consumer can conclude a distance contract through your shop or booking form, you are in the e-commerce category.
2. Do you also provide one of the specifically named services? Banking, e-books, telecoms and passenger transport come with their own requirements on top of the e-commerce ones.
3. Are you a micro-enterprise? If so, an exemption applies to services. See below.

The micro-enterprise exemption

For services, the directive exempts micro-enterprises. EU rules describe that category as a business with fewer than 10 employees and an annual turnover or balance sheet total of no more than 2 million euro. The exemption does not cover products you manufacture or place on the market yourself.

That sounds like a free pass for many small shops. Three caveats:

• Grow past the threshold and the exemption falls away. You do not rebuild a web shop every year.
• Your customers cannot see your headcount. Someone who cannot complete checkout with a keyboard simply does not buy.
• Whether you fall inside the exemption is a legal question. This article is not legal advice; rely on the legal text and consult a lawyer if it matters. Frankwatching and Level Level published useful summaries of the scope.

What “accessible” means in practice

The law does not prescribe code. It points to harmonised standards; for ICT that is in practice the European standard EN 301 549, which for websites relies on the WCAG guidelines, at level AA.

WCAG is built on four principles:

• Perceivable – text and images can be seen or heard, also through a screen reader or at low contrast.
• Operable – everything works with a keyboard, nothing demands precision or speed.
• Understandable – labels, error messages and navigation are consistent and in plain language.
• Robust – the markup is written so assistive software can interpret it.

The currently cited version, 3.2.1, points to WCAG 2.1 AA; EN 301 549 v4.1.1 of September 2026 moves to WCAG 2.2 AA but is not cited yet. Keep that in mind when you write an accessibility statement, and check the current version of the standard rather than a blog post.

Five things you can check yourself

You do not need an audit to find the biggest problems. Walk through these five points on your home page, a product page and your checkout.

1. Colour contrast. Light grey text on white, or white text on a soft pastel button, usually fails. Use a contrast checker instead of your eyes.
2. Keyboard navigation. Put the mouse away and complete a purchase with Tab and Enter. Can you open the menu, use filters, update the cart and check out? Can you always see where focus is? Check that your theme doesn’t hide that focus ring.
3. Forms. Every field needs a visible label, not just a placeholder that disappears as you type. Error messages belong next to the field, in text, not only as a red border.
4. Structure and alt text. One h1 per page, headings in a logical order, and descriptive alt text on product photos. Purely decorative images get an empty alt attribute.
5. Dynamic parts. Cookie banners, pop-ups, the mini cart, sliders and “added to your basket” messages are the classic failures. Can you close a dialog with Escape? Does focus stay inside it?

Automated scanners catch part of this. The rest you find by trying it yourself, and by letting someone else try it.

What to ask your developer or host

In WordPress, accessibility sits in three places: core, your theme and your plugins. Core gets accessibility work in every release; see the WordPress 6.9 release documentation as an example. That is a reason to stay current rather than to wait.

Useful questions for whoever builds or maintains your site:

• Has the theme been tested with a keyboard and a screen reader, or only reviewed visually?
• Which plugins drive my checkout, filters and pop-ups, and how accessible are they?
• Is the cookie or consent banner part of the test? It sits in front of everything else.
• Who keeps this in order as new pages and campaigns get added?

Be sceptical about overlay widgets that promise compliance with one line of script. They place a layer on top of your site and leave the underlying code untouched. Better to build a theme that behaves and keep it maintained. At WeMeekIt, accessibility is part of the normal work on websites and web shops and of the maintenance afterwards.

Accessible and fast overlap

Many changes that make a site more accessible also make it faster. Fewer heavy scripts, fewer shifting elements, buttons that respond straight away: that helps everyone. Google measures the last one with Interaction to Next Paint, the successor to First Input Delay, explained on web.dev. A checkout that does nothing for half a second after a click annoys everyone, and for someone with a motor impairment it is a real barrier.

Summary

• EAA obligations apply from 28 June 2025 and reach private web shops, not just government sites.
• Check whether the micro-enterprise exemption applies: fewer than 10 employees and no more than 2 million euro in turnover or balance sheet total, and only for services.
• Aim technically at WCAG level AA as pointed to by EN 301 549.
• Test with a keyboard, check contrast, labels, headings and alt text, and do not skip the cookie banner and pop-ups.
• Do not rely on an overlay script; fix it in the theme and plugins.
• Agree who keeps this in order when new pages appear.

Want to know where your shop stands? Book a free half-hour intro call; at the very least you will walk away with a short list of what needs attention first.

Frequently asked questions

Does the European Accessibility Act apply to my small web shop?

For services, including e-commerce, the directive exempts micro-enterprises: fewer than 10 employees and no more than 2 million euro in annual turnover or balance sheet total. The exemption does not cover products you place on the market yourself. Whether you qualify is a legal question, so rely on the legal text.

From what date does my site have to comply?

The obligations apply from 28 June 2025. The directive allows transition periods for services already in use and for certain equipment. Check which period applies to your situation in the official sources.

Which standard should I follow?

The European standard EN 301 549 details the requirements and relies on WCAG for websites, in practice at level AA: v3.2.1 on WCAG 2.1, the new v4.1.1 on WCAG 2.2. Check the current version of the standard before you publish an accessibility statement.

Is an accessibility widget or overlay enough?

No. Such a script adds a layer on top of your site and leaves the underlying code as it is. Structure, labels, contrast and keyboard operation have to be right in your theme and plugins.