Selling online
European Accessibility Act: what it means for your webshop
Since 28 June 2025 the European Accessibility Act requires online shops that sell to consumers in the EU to be accessible for people with disabilities. It covers the whole buying process, from product information to payment. This guide explains who the rules apply to, the exemption for very small businesses, what you have to publish and how to make your shop more accessible step by step.
In short
- The European Accessibility Act (Directive (EU) 2019/882) applies to e-commerce services from 28 June 2025.
- It covers websites and apps through which consumers can conclude a purchase, including identification and payment.
- Microenterprises that provide services, with fewer than 10 employees and no more than 2 million euro turnover or balance sheet total, are exempt.
- Covered shops must explain in their terms and conditions, or an equivalent document, how the service meets the accessibility requirements.
- Penalties are set by each EU country, and national authorities check compliance.
What the European Accessibility Act is
The European Accessibility Act is an EU directive, Directive (EU) 2019/882, that sets common accessibility requirements for a list of products and services. The goal is that people with disabilities can use them on an equal basis with others. Each EU country has written the directive into its own law. In Germany, for example, that is the Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz (BFSG).
The measures apply from 28 June 2025. Since that date, services in scope that are offered to consumers have to meet the requirements.
Good to know
This guide is general information, not legal advice. The directive leaves details to each EU country, so check the national law where you sell or ask an adviser.
Does it apply to your webshop?
E-commerce services are explicitly in scope. The directive defines them as services provided at a distance, through websites and mobile device-based services, by electronic means and at the individual request of a consumer with a view to concluding a consumer contract. In plain words: an online shop or app where consumers can buy something.
The obligations apply to the online sale of any product or service, not only to products that are themselves covered by the directive. A shop selling clothing, furniture or tickets to consumers is therefore covered, unless an exemption applies.
- Webshops that sell to consumers in the EU
- Booking and ticket sales to consumers
- Mobile shopping apps
- Not covered: purely business-to-business sales
The exemption for microenterprises
Microenterprises that provide services are exempt from the accessibility requirements for those services and from the related obligations. The directive defines a microenterprise as an enterprise that employs fewer than 10 persons and has an annual turnover not exceeding 2 million euro, or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding 2 million euro.
Many small webshops therefore fall outside the obligations. Even then, an accessible shop is easier to use for every customer, and accessibility often goes hand in hand with good search engine optimisation. Keep an eye on your size: once you grow past the thresholds, the obligations apply.
- Fewer than 10 employees
- Annual turnover or balance sheet total of no more than 2 million euro
- The exemption covers services, such as a webshop
What an accessible webshop must offer
For websites and apps the directive asks for content that is perceivable, operable, understandable and robust. For e-commerce services it adds specific points, set out in Annex I of the directive.
Requirements for e-commerce services
- Provide the accessibility information about the products and services you sell, when the responsible economic operator supplies it
- Make the functions for identification, security and payment accessible when they are part of your service
- Offer identification methods, electronic signatures and payment services that are perceivable, operable, understandable and robust
- Make the website and app themselves accessible in a consistent and adequate way
Good to know
The directive works with harmonised standards: services that meet published harmonised standards are presumed to meet the requirements those standards cover. In practice many businesses use the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) as a working checklist.
What you have to publish
Covered service providers must prepare information that explains how their service meets the accessibility requirements, following Annex V of the directive. That information goes in the general terms and conditions, or an equivalent document. It must be available to the public in written and oral format, in a way that is accessible to people with disabilities, and kept for as long as the service runs.
- A general description of the service in accessible formats
- Explanations needed to understand how the service works
- A description of how the accessibility requirements are met
Disproportionate burden and fundamental alteration
The requirements apply only as far as they do not fundamentally change the basic nature of the service and do not impose a disproportionate burden on the business. You cannot simply claim this. The directive requires you to assess it, using the criteria in Annex VI, and to document that assessment. You keep the results for five years after the service was last provided and show them to the authorities on request.
Transition periods and enforcement
The directive allows some transition. Service contracts agreed before 28 June 2025 may continue without change until they expire, but no longer than five years from that date. Service providers may also keep using products they lawfully used before that date to provide similar services, during a transition period that ends on 28 June 2030.
Each EU country sets its own penalties, which must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive, and national authorities check whether services comply.
A practical checklist for your shop
Accessibility is not a one-off project. Start with the parts of your shop that every customer uses, from the product page to the payment.
- Check whether you are a microenterprise, and document it
- Give every product image a clear alternative text
- Make sure text has enough contrast with its background
- Check that the whole checkout works with a keyboard alone
- Label every form field and explain errors in plain words
- Avoid information that is only conveyed by colour
- Add the accessibility information to your terms and conditions
- Test regularly, also after design changes
Keep reading
- Free contrast checker Check whether your text is easy to read.
- Terms and conditions for an online store What to include and when to show it.
- How to start an online store The full guide, from idea to first order.
- Cookie banner rules in the EU When you need consent and how to ask for it.
- OSS and IOSS VAT for webshops VAT when you sell to other EU countries.
- SEO for online stores Get found with clear product and category pages.
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