E-commerce Accessibility — Complete EAA Compliance Guide
The European Accessibility Act (Directive 2019/882) became applicable on 28 June 2025. E-commerce is one of the services explicitly listed in the directive. If you sell products or services online to consumers in the EU, these requirements apply to you.
In practice, your online store must meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA requirements. Not because it's a nice-to-have — because it's the law.
This guide covers what the requirements mean in practice, the most common issues in each part of an online store, why accessibility is also a business issue, and how to get started.
Who needs to comply?
The European Accessibility Act covers all online stores and marketplaces that offer products or services to consumers in the EU. The only exception: micro-enterprises providing services (fewer than 10 employees and turnover under €2 million).
If your turnover exceeds €2 million or you employ more than 10 people, the requirements apply to you. In practice, most serious online stores fall within scope.
Important: the requirements also apply to businesses outside the EU that sell to EU consumers. If you sell to EU customers, the directive applies regardless of where your business is based.
Why accessibility is also a business issue
The spending power of people with disabilities
According to the WHO, approximately 1.3 billion people — 16% of the global population — live with a significant disability. In Europe, the figure is around 87 million people (Eurostat). The combined spending power of these people and their families and friends is estimated at over one trillion dollars globally.
If your online store isn't accessible, this customer base cannot buy from you. They go to a competitor whose checkout works with a screen reader.
Accessibility issues drive away all customers
Accessibility issues don't only affect people with disabilities. Poor contrast affects everyone using a phone in bright sunlight. Missing form labels confuse anyone. A checkout that doesn't work with a keyboard blocks tablet users.
Microsoft calls this thinking inclusive design: a disability can be permanent (blindness), temporary (recovery after eye surgery), or situational (driving, bright sunlight, noisy environment). An accessible online store serves all of these situations.
Conversion impact — how accessibility failures affect sales
Accessibility failures affect every stage of the purchase journey:
| Stage | Typical issue | Consequence |
|---|---|---|
| Browsing products | Missing alt text, non-functional filters | User can't find products → leaves the site |
| Viewing product details | Prices not readable by screen reader, colour variants unnamed | User can't get enough information to make a purchase decision |
| Adding to cart | Button doesn't work with keyboard, no confirmation of action | User doesn't know if the action succeeded |
| Checkout | Missing form labels, unclear error messages | Order abandoned → lost sale |
| Payment | Payment method selection doesn't work with keyboard | Customer can't pay → cart abandoned |
Each of these stages is a point where you lose customers — and revenue. Askem's web analytics helps identify where users drop off, and the feedback tool tells you why.
What accessible e-commerce means in practice
WCAG 2.1 AA isn't an abstract standard — it translates into concrete requirements for every part of an online store. Here's what it means by page type.
Product pages
- Product images need alt text (WCAG 1.1.1). A filename is not enough. The alt text must describe what's in the image: "Blue cotton t-shirt, round neckline, front view." 75% of online shoppers base their purchase decisions on product photos — if a screen reader user can't access this information, they won't buy.
- Colour variants must not be just coloured dots. Name the colours in text too — a visually impaired user cannot distinguish red from blue.
- Prices must be readable by screen readers. If a price is an image or CSS-styled text, screen readers can't find it. The same applies to sale prices — "was €49, now €29" must be readable, not just struck-through styling.
- Size and stock information needs clear labels. The "Select size" dropdown must work with a keyboard and tell the screen reader what's selected and which sizes are sold out.
Search and filters
- The search field needs a clear label, not just a magnifying glass icon (WCAG 1.3.1).
- Filters must be operable with a keyboard (WCAG 2.1.1). Many custom sliders and multi-select components don't work without a mouse. This is one of the most common issues in online stores.
- Search result updates must be announced to screen readers (WCAG 4.1.3). When a filter changes results, the user needs to know. Otherwise they don't notice anything happened and think the site is broken.
- Pagination must be accessible. "Next page" links need clear labels, and the current page must be indicated.
Shopping cart and checkout
This is the most critical part of an online store for accessibility. If checkout doesn't work, browsing products is pointless.
- Every form field needs a label (WCAG 1.3.1). "First name", "Last name", "Email" — not placeholder text that disappears when the user starts typing.
- Error messages must identify the problem and where it is (WCAG 3.3.1, 3.3.3). "Check your details" is not enough. "Email address is missing the @ symbol" helps. The error must also be programmatically associated with the field so screen readers find it.
- Payment method selection must work with keyboard. Radio buttons, tabs, or custom buttons — all must be operable without a mouse.
- Order confirmation must be clear. Screen readers must be able to tell the user the order succeeded. A visual "green tick" alone is not enough.
- Time limits must be communicated. If checkout has a time limit (e.g., reserved items released after 15 minutes), the user must be informed and given the option to extend (WCAG 2.2.1).
Colours and contrast
The most common accessibility issue in online stores is insufficient colour contrast. According to the WebAIM Million 2024 study, 81% of websites fail the WCAG contrast requirement (WCAG 1.4.3). In e-commerce, contrast issues are especially common in prices, buttons, and "Add to cart" elements.
The requirement is straightforward: normal text must have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 against its background. Large text (18pt or larger) requires at least 3:1. Check your colours with our contrast checker tool.
Pop-ups, modals, and chat windows
Online stores are full of pop-ups: newsletter signup, discount codes, chat widgets, cookie notices. Each one must follow the same rules:
- Focus must move to the modal when it opens — otherwise screen readers don't know it exists.
- The Escape key must close it.
- Focus must return to the original position when the modal closes.
- Chat windows must be keyboard-accessible. Many third-party chat widgets are not accessible — check this separately.
Most common accessibility issues in online stores
The same issues repeat across online stores. Here are the most common, grouped by page type:
| Issue | Where it occurs | WCAG criterion | How to fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product images missing alt text | Product pages, listings | 1.1.1 | Add descriptive alt attributes to every product image |
| Filters don't work with keyboard | Category pages | 2.1.1 | Use native HTML elements or add ARIA roles and keyboard support |
| Form labels missing | Checkout, registration | 1.3.1 | Add label elements to every form field |
| Insufficient colour contrast | Prices, buttons, links | 1.4.3 | Check and fix contrast ratio to at least 4.5:1 |
| Error messages don't identify the problem | Checkout, contact forms | 3.3.1, 3.3.3 | Name the field with an error and describe what's needed |
| Pop-ups not accessible | Newsletter, offers, chat | 2.1.1, 4.1.2 | Add focus management, Escape key support, and ARIA roles |
| Search results update not announced | Search, filters | 4.1.3 | Use ARIA live region to announce result count |
| Pagination missing current page indicator | Product listings | 1.3.1 | Mark current page with aria-current="page" |
Askem's quality assurance automatically detects missing alt text, contrast failures, missing form labels, and empty links — covering the majority of the most common issues.
Penalties and risks
If your online store doesn't meet the requirements, the consequences can be concrete.
Regulatory enforcement
Article 30 of the European Accessibility Act requires penalties to be "effective, proportionate, and dissuasive". Each EU member state sets its own enforcement measures, which can include corrective orders, fines, and removal of services from the market.
Legal risks
Enforcement doesn't come only from regulators. Accessibility failures can lead to discrimination complaints and compensation claims. Internationally, online stores have been among the most common targets of accessibility lawsuits — the most well-known case being the Domino's Pizza lawsuit in the United States, where a blind customer could not order from the company's website.
Lost revenue
And in practical terms: an inaccessible checkout loses customers every day — regardless of the law. Every time a user can't complete an order, that's a lost sale. Unlike regulatory fines, this loss is daily and growing.
How Askem helps online stores
Managing e-commerce accessibility requires three things: understanding your current state, fixing issues, and continuous monitoring. Askem covers all of these.
Automated accessibility monitoring
Askem's quality assurance scans your online store regularly and reports WCAG issues automatically. You get notified when new problems appear — for example, when someone publishes a product page without alt text or a campaign page fails the contrast requirement.
This is essential for online stores because content changes constantly: new products, campaign pages, seasonal collections. Every change can introduce new issues. Without continuous monitoring, they go unnoticed.
User feedback directly from pages
Automated tools catch roughly 30–40% of WCAG issues. The rest — like confusing navigation, unclear product descriptions, or a broken checkout flow — only surface when a real user encounters them.
Askem's feedback tool collects feedback directly from users on your pages. When a user with a disability encounters a barrier, they can report it immediately — so you don't have to wait for the next audit to find out.
Analytics without cookies
Askem's web analytics shows which pages are most used — without cookies and GDPR complexity. See where in the purchase journey users drop off and prioritise accessibility fixes accordingly.
How to get started
1. Request a free accessibility report
Request a free report from Askem — enter your store URL and email, and we'll send you a WCAG analysis within 24 hours. The report identifies the most critical issues and helps you understand the scope of work needed.
2. Test your checkout with keyboard only
This is the single best test for an online store. Put your mouse away and try to complete an order using only the keyboard. Tab to navigate, Enter to activate, Escape to close. If you can't get to the end of checkout, neither can your customers — at least not all of them.
3. Prioritise fixes
Start with checkout and page templates. A single fix in your header or product card template can resolve hundreds of individual issues at once. Use our WCAG checklist for technical criteria, the EAA compliance checklist for organisational requirements, and the contrast checker to verify colours.
4. Set up continuous monitoring
A one-off check isn't enough. Online stores change constantly, and every change can introduce new issues. Askem's continuous accessibility monitoring detects regressions automatically — so you don't have to wait for the next manual audit.
Summary
E-commerce accessibility is a legal requirement that applies to virtually all significant online stores in the EU. The requirements are in force now. But it's not just about the letter of the law — an inaccessible online store loses customers and revenue every day.
The good news: the most significant issues are often simple to fix. Request a free accessibility report from Askem — enter your store URL and email, and you'll receive a WCAG analysis within 24 hours. Free, no commitment.