The European Accessibility Act and your website: what small businesses should check

The European Accessibility Act (Directive (EU) 2019/882) has applied since 28 June 2025. It requires many consumer-facing services, including online shops, to be usable by people with disabilities. Microenterprises that provide services are exempt, but most of the fixes are basic quality work that makes a site easier for every visitor. This article is general information and not legal advice, so check the rules in your own country.

Key takeaways

• The Act covers many online services aimed at consumers, such as e-commerce, and it applies to businesses selling to customers in the EU.
• Microenterprises, meaning fewer than ten staff and an annual turnover or balance sheet total of no more than 2 million euros, are exempt from the service requirements.
• The technical reference is the European standard EN 301 549, which builds on WCAG. WCAG 2.2 level AA is the sensible target today.
• Keyboard use, colour contrast, image descriptions, form labels and zoom are the checks that find most problems.
• Accessibility belongs in the brief when you commission or rebuild a site.

Does the Act apply to your business?

It depends on what you sell and to whom. The Act covers a defined list of consumer services, and online shopping is one of them. A brochure site for a business-to-business consultancy is generally in a different position from a webshop that sells to consumers.

The size exemption is separate. If you have fewer than ten staff and your annual turnover or balance sheet total does not exceed 2 million euros, the service requirements do not apply to you. Member states implement and enforce the Act themselves, so details and penalties differ by country. If you are unsure, ask a lawyer or your national authority.

Which standard should you aim for?

The Act points to the harmonised European standard EN 301 549, and for web content that standard draws on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) from the W3C. The current version is WCAG 2.2, and level AA is the usual target. A site that meets 2.2 AA also covers the earlier 2.1 AA criteria, so you do not need to choose between them.

Our guide to choosing a web designer includes the question to ask a provider about this, and the website cost guide explains why accessibility should be in the scope from the start.

Seven checks you can run yourself

These checks will not replace a full audit, but they find the problems that block people most often.

1. Use only the keyboard. Press Tab through your homepage and your checkout or contact form. You should reach every link, button and field, in a sensible order, and always see where you are.
2. Check contrast. Body text needs a contrast ratio of at least 4.5 to 1 against its background at level AA. Free contrast checkers let you paste two colours.
3. Describe meaningful images. Images that carry information need a short text alternative. Purely decorative images should have an empty one.
4. Label every form field. A visible label tied to each field is better than placeholder text, which disappears when someone types.
5. Zoom to 200 percent. The page should stay usable without sideways scrolling or overlapping content, and text size should respond to browser settings.
6. Add captions to videos. Spoken content needs captions or a transcript, and nothing should play with sound on its own.
7. Check your headings. One main heading, then logical subheadings. Screen reader users jump between headings to find their way.

What to ask your web designer

Ask which accessibility standard they build to and how they test it. A good answer names WCAG 2.2 AA and mentions both automated tools and manual checks with a keyboard and a screen reader. Ask what happens when you add content later, because an accessible template can be undone by an unlabelled image or a low-contrast banner.

Ongoing checks are part of keeping a site healthy, which our website maintenance guide covers.

Where to start

Run the seven checks on your homepage and your most important form, write down what fails and fix the items that block people from contacting you or buying. Then plan the rest over time.

Our free website audit includes accessibility signals alongside speed and search checks, and our seven-check review covers the checks that matter for enquiries. If you would like to talk through a rebuild or a repair, book a free 30-minute discovery call, or see our services.