The European Accessibility Act for online stores

The European Accessibility Act is an EU law, Directive (EU) 2019/882, that sets common accessibility requirements for a list of everyday products and services. Each EU country has turned it into its own national law.

E-commerce is one of the covered services. The EU’s Your Europe business guide lists online shops among the examples it applies to.

The requirements apply to products and services placed on the market after 28 June 2025. If your online store serves customers in the EU, it is expected to meet them now. Some transition rules exist for products and services that were already on the market, so check your national law for the details.

Broadly, ask yourself two questions:

1. Do you sell to consumers in the EU? The EAA is about services offered to consumers in the EU market. Businesses based outside the EU that sell to EU consumers should not assume they are out of scope.
2. Are you a microenterprise? Service providers with fewer than 10 employees and annual turnover (or balance sheet) of no more than €2 million are exempt from the requirements for services, according to the EU’s guidance and the Council of the EU. Microenterprises that make or sell covered products have narrower exemptions.

Even if you’re exempt, the people who can’t use an inaccessible store are still your customers, and US accessibility lawsuits don’t have a size exemption.

In plain terms, people with disabilities must be able to find, understand and use your store, including with assistive technologies such as screen readers. That covers browsing, product information, choosing options, the cart, payment and the information you give about your service.

In practice, the EU’s harmonised standard for digital accessibility, EN 301 549, builds on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) at level AA. Meeting WCAG AA on your key pages is the practical way to work towards the EAA.

The EU’s guidance also expects businesses to be able to explain how their service meets the requirements. A clear accessibility statement on your site is a good way to do that.

A business can claim that a requirement would be a disproportionate burden, but it has to assess and document this, and the assessment has to be reviewed regularly. It is not a general opt-out. See the Your Europe guidance.

Each EU country enforces the EAA through its own national authorities and sets its own penalties. Rules and fines therefore differ between, for example, Germany, France and the Netherlands.

1. Find out where you stand. Scan your store for WCAG 2.2 AA issues on the pages where sales happen.
2. Test by hand with a keyboard and a screen reader, especially product options, the cart and checkout.
3. Fix the issues in your code, not with an overlay widget.
4. Publish an accessibility statement that explains what you’ve done, any known limitations and how customers can contact you.
5. Keep records of audits and fixes, and re-check after theme and app changes.

• Directive (EU) 2019/882 (the European Accessibility Act), EUR-Lex.
• Summary: accessibility of products and services, EUR-Lex.
• Services, goods and their digital accessibility, Your Europe.
• European accessibility act, European Commission.
• Accessibility to products and services, Council of the EU.

This page is general information, not legal advice. National laws implementing the EAA differ, so check with a lawyer in the countries you sell to.