Seminar at SoftUni Creative
Does your online store fall under the European Accessibility Act, which has applied since 28 June 2025?
Surprisingly often, the honest answer is “we heard something, but we’re not sure”. Or “we installed a plugin, so we should be fine”.
The act covers most stores that sell to consumers in the EU and are not microenterprises. Each EU country enforces it through its own authority. And the plugin that promises compliance in one click does not solve the problem. Sometimes it creates a new one.
Below is what the act requires, which stores are covered, which problems we see most often in WooCommerce stores, and where it makes sense to start.
The short version
- Since 28 June 2025, online stores that sell to consumers in the EU have to meet accessibility requirements.
- Microenterprises providing services are exempt: fewer than 10 people and an annual turnover or balance sheet total of up to 2 million euro.
- The act is an EU directive. Each country has its own law, its own enforcement authority and its own penalties.
- You have to publish how your store meets the requirements, usually in your terms or on a separate accessibility page.
- In practice, the benchmark is WCAG 2.1 level AA: contrast, keyboard use, labelled form fields, clear error messages.
- “One-click accessibility” plugins do not make a store compliant.
What the act says
The European Accessibility Act (EAA) is Directive (EU) 2019/882. Member states had to transpose it into their national law, and the rules apply from 28 June 2025.
E-commerce services are explicitly in scope. The directive defines them as services provided at a distance, through websites and mobile apps, at the individual request of a consumer, with a view to concluding a consumer contract.
In practice, if you sell online to private customers, you are most likely covered. A store or portal that sells only to businesses most likely is not. If you have both, the requirements apply to the part where consumers buy.
| Question | What the directive says |
|---|---|
| Since when? | 28 June 2025 |
| Who is covered? | Providers of e-commerce services to consumers |
| Who is exempt? | Microenterprises providing services: fewer than 10 people and turnover or balance sheet total up to 2 million euro |
| Who checks? | A national authority in each country |
| What must you publish? | Information on how the service meets the requirements, in the terms and conditions or an equivalent document |
| What about old content? | Video and office documents published before 28 June 2025, and third-party content you do not control, are excluded |
Penalties are set nationally and vary a lot between countries. One example: in Bulgaria, where we are based, the national law sets fines of roughly 1,500 to 10,000 euro for companies, and up to about 20,000 euro for a repeat offence. Consumers and disability organisations can also file complaints.
Worth knowing: The directive allows an exemption when compliance would impose a disproportionate burden on the business. It is not automatic. The assessment has to be documented, kept and updated. Without it, the exemption does not apply.
What an accessible store means in practice
The act describes the requirements in general terms: information must be perceivable, the interface must be operable, the content must be understandable. The practical benchmark is the European standard EN 301 549, which for websites points to WCAG 2.1 level AA (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines).
How far is a typical site from that? WebAIM’s annual study of the home pages of one million websites found automatically detectable WCAG errors on 95.9% of pages in 2026, with an average of 56 errors per page.
The most common errors will look familiar to anyone who has worked on an online store:
| Error | Share of pages | Where we see it in stores |
|---|---|---|
| Low text contrast | 83.9% | Light grey prices, stock notes, hints under fields |
| Images without alternative text | 53.1% | Product photos, banners with text baked into the image |
| Fields without a label | 51% | Search, quantity, checkout fields |
| Empty links | 46.3% | Wishlist, account and social icons |
| Empty buttons | 30.6% | Cart, close and gallery buttons |
Beyond what automated tools catch, a few things are worth checking by hand:
- Buying with the keyboard only. Go from the home page to a confirmed order using only Tab and Enter. The menu, filters, variant selection and payment should all work.
- Visible focus. When you move with the keyboard, you should always see where you are.
- Error messages in text. “Invalid phone number, enter 10 digits” works. A red border around the field does not.
- Zoom to 200%. The page should stay usable, with no overlapping or disappearing text.
- Pop-ups. The cookie banner, promo pop-up and side cart should close with the keyboard and not trap a screen reader.
Checkout is where accessibility and sales overlap completely. A field without a label or an error that is not explained stops every customer, not only people with disabilities.
Why a “one-click accessibility” plugin is not the answer
The market is full of tools that add an icon in the corner of the site and promise WCAG compliance. They can enlarge text or change colours. They cannot add a missing field label, fix a menu that does not work with a keyboard, or describe a product photo meaningfully.
In January 2025, the US Federal Trade Commission required accessiBe to pay 1 million dollars. According to the FTC, the company made misleading claims that its AI tool could make any website WCAG compliant. The final order bans such claims without evidence.
What this means in practice: accessibility is built into the store’s code and content, not added as a layer on top. A plugin can be a useful extra. As the only measure, it gives a false sense of security.
Be careful: If a vendor promises “full EAA compliance” in exchange for installing a plugin, ask in writing for the list of WCAG criteria they checked and the result for each. If there is no such list, the promise means nothing.
The accessibility information you have to publish
The act requires you to describe how your store meets the accessibility requirements. The usual place is the terms and conditions or an equivalent document, and the information itself has to be accessible.
We recommend a separate “Accessibility” page, linked from the footer and from your terms. It should say:
- which standard you work towards, for example WCAG 2.1 AA;
- when the last review was done and by whom;
- which parts of the store do not yet comply and when they will be fixed;
- how a customer can report a problem and order another way, for example by phone.
A common fear is that admitting open issues is risky. In our experience, the opposite is true. A page that says honestly what has been done and what comes next shows that the work has started. A page that promises full compliance, on a store that cannot be used with a keyboard, is much harder to defend.
What we changed on our own site
Our website is not an online store, so the act does not apply to it. We applied the same rules in the redesign anyway, because a more readable site is better for every visitor.
Two examples. The light grey we first used for secondary text had a contrast of 3.1:1 against white. WCAG requires at least 4.5:1 for normal text, so we darkened it until it passed on the darkest background it appears on.
The second is the links in articles like this one. They use the body text colour, so a solid orange underline marks them, visible all the time, not only on hover. That way a link is recognisable even to someone who does not distinguish colours.
Neither change is noticeable to most visitors. That is what good accessibility looks like: invisible to some, decisive for others.
Where to start
You do not have to fix everything at once. You do need to know where you stand and have a plan.
- Check whether you are in scope. Do you sell to consumers, and are you a microenterprise?
- Review the key pages. Home, category, product, cart, checkout, account. An automated test plus a manual check with the keyboard and a screen reader.
- Set priorities. First everything that blocks a purchase: checkout, forms, menu. Then contrast and alternative text.
- Fix and publish the accessibility information.
- Set rules for the team. Who writes alt text for new products, who checks new banners. Without this, the problems return within six months.
When fixes cost more than a redesign
Most issues are solved with fixes to the theme and the content. In some stores, though, every fix leads to the next one.
This is where many businesses go wrong. They pay for fix after fix on a store built with a heavy page builder, where buttons are not real buttons and the menu is not a real menu. A year later they have a more expensive store with the same problems.
If the review shows that the problems sit in the foundation of the theme, in a checkout that cannot be changed, or in hundreds of pages with the same errors, compare the cost of fixes with a store redesign. A new store designed accessible from the start costs less than fixing it afterwards.
Frequently asked questions
Does the European Accessibility Act apply to my online store?
If you sell online to consumers in the EU and your company is not a microenterprise, most likely yes. A microenterprise has fewer than 10 people and an annual turnover or balance sheet total of up to 2 million euro. A store that sells only to businesses is most likely outside the definition.
Who enforces the act?
Each EU country designates its own authority. Consumers, and in many countries disability organisations, can also file complaints. Check the national law in the countries where you sell.
What are the penalties?
They are set by each country and differ widely. In Bulgaria, for example, fines for companies range from roughly 1,500 to 10,000 euro, and up to about 20,000 euro for a repeat offence.
Is an accessibility plugin enough?
No. A plugin can add conveniences such as larger text, but it does not fix missing labels, keyboard navigation or image descriptions. In 2025 the US FTC fined a vendor of such a tool 1 million dollars for misleading claims that it made websites WCAG compliant.
Do I have to rework old product photos and documents?
Video and office documents published before 28 June 2025 are excluded. Product photos are part of the store’s live content, so it makes sense to add alt text, starting with your best-selling products.
How long does it take to make a store accessible?
It depends on the theme and the number of issues. A review shows the scale. A store with a well-built theme is usually fixed in stages, starting with everything that blocks a purchase. When the problems sit in the foundation, rebuilding is sometimes the more sensible option.
Key takeaways
- The act has applied since 28 June 2025 to stores that sell to consumers in the EU, except microenterprises.
- Each country enforces it with its own law and penalties.
- Accessibility is built into code and content. A plugin does not replace it.
- Fix what blocks a purchase first. That also pays off in sales.
- An honest accessibility statement with a plan is a better defence than a promise of full compliance.
Want to know where your store stands?
We can review the key pages of your store and give you a list of issues, ranked by how much they get in the way of a purchase. If fixing turns out to cost more than a new store, we will tell you.
Contact us with your store’s address. If you are planning a new store, see how we approach WooCommerce development.
