The European Accessibility Act, explained for online stores.

What it is

The European Accessibility Act (EAA) is an EU law that requires certain products and services to be accessible to people with disabilities. Online shops selling to consumers are one of the services it covers. Each EU country has written the law into its own rules, so the details and the penalties differ from country to country.

Who is affected

Stores selling to consumers in the EU are the main group. Stores based outside the EU may also be affected if they serve EU customers, depending on the country. The rules for a specific store are a question for a lawyer or your national authority.

Small businesses: the law exempts microenterprises that provide services, meaning fewer than 10 staff and annual turnover or balance sheet of €2 million or less. Check how your country applies this, and whether the exemption covers a store that is part of a larger group.

What "accessible" means in practice

The law points to a technical standard called EN 301 549, which builds on the WCAG guidelines. For a store, the practical checks are the same things people are stopped by every day:

• Can a keyboard-only visitor reach the menu, search, cart and checkout?
• Do images have useful descriptions and buttons have readable names?
• Is text readable, with enough contrast?
• Do form fields have labels and clear error messages?
• Is there an accessibility statement and a way to report problems?

First steps for a store owner

1. Scan your key pages: home, a product page, cart and checkout. Use the form on this page for a free scan.
2. Fix the biggest problems first, starting with checkout.
3. Test by keyboard from product page to completed order.
4. Publish an accessibility statement with a contact route.
5. Re-test after theme or app changes.
6. Ask a lawyer whether and how the law applies to your business.

What a widget does and doesn't do

Widgets that sit on top of your page change how it looks in the browser but don't fix the code underneath. See overlays vs code fixes.

Lintel is an early-stage service. It scans a page and reports problems today, and code-level fixes for store themes are still being built. It does not guarantee compliance with any law.