Since 28 June 2025, the European Accessibility Act (Directive (EU) 2019/882) requires many private businesses to make their digital services accessible to people with disabilities, including e-commerce websites and apps sold to consumers.
Who it covers
- E-commerce: websites and mobile apps selling products or services to consumers.
- Banking services, e-books, electronic communications, and passenger transport services such as ticketing and travel information.
- Products such as computers, smartphones, ticket machines and e-readers.
Microenterprises providing services (fewer than 10 employees and annual turnover or balance sheet of no more than 2 million euros) are exempt from the service requirements. Public sector websites were already covered by the Web Accessibility Directive ((EU) 2016/2102).
The standard: WCAG 2.1 AA
The harmonised European standard EN 301 549 builds on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, level AA. Meeting it gives a presumption of conformity. WCAG is organised around four principles: content must be perceivable, operable, understandable and robust.
The fixes that matter most
- Text alternatives: meaningful alt text for informative images, empty alt for decorative ones.
- Keyboard: everything works without a mouse, with a visible focus indicator and no keyboard traps.
- Contrast: at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text and interface components.
- Forms: every field has a label; errors are described in text, not only in red.
- Structure: one h1, headings in order, landmarks, and a correct page language.
- Media: captions for video, transcripts for audio, no autoplaying sound.
- Zoom and reflow: usable at 200% zoom and on a 320 pixel wide screen without horizontal scrolling.
- Motion: respect reduced-motion settings; nothing flashes more than three times a second.
Document it
Publish information on how your service meets the requirements, usually an accessibility statement explaining the standard you follow, known limitations and how users can report a barrier. Automated tools find about a third of issues; test with a keyboard and a screen reader too.
Each member state sets its own penalties and market surveillance authority, and consumers or associations can complain. Inaccessible checkouts also lose sales. Track fixes in the Remediation Center.
This guide is general information about EU rules, not legal advice. Requirements can differ by country and by business: check with your data protection authority or a lawyer for your case.