Get your store EAA-ready.In force since 28 June 2025.
The European Accessibility Act applies to online stores selling to consumers in the EU, wherever the business is based - with a genuine exemption for the smallest ones.
What the EAA is, and who it applies to.
The European Accessibility Act - Directive (EU) 2019/882 - harmonises accessibility requirements across the EU for a range of products and services, e-commerce among them. It has been enforceable since 28 June 2025.
It applies to e-commerce services offered to consumers in the EU regardless of where the seller is established: if you sell to EU customers, it can reach you from outside the Union too. It does not apply to everyone, though - the smallest service providers are exempt, and contracts that predate the deadline get a transition window.
In force
Enforceable since 28 June 2025. Service contracts agreed before that date may run unaltered until 28 June 2030 at the latest.
Who it covers
E-commerce services offered to consumers in the EU, wherever the seller is based. It covers selling to consumers - pure business-to-business sales are outside the e-commerce service rules.
Who is exempt
Microenterprises providing services: fewer than 10 employees and an annual turnover or balance-sheet total of €2 million or less. The exemption works differently for products - confirm your status before relying on it.
The standard behind it is WCAG 2.1 AA.
The EAA sets functional accessibility requirements rather than a single technical checklist. In practice, conformity is demonstrated against EN 301 549, the European standard for ICT accessibility - and its web-content clauses incorporate WCAG 2.1 at Level AA.
One nuance worth knowing: the EAA grants a formal presumption of conformity only to standards cited under it in the EU's Official Journal, and the updated EN 301 549 for the EAA had not yet been cited as of mid-2026. Until it is, WCAG 2.1 AA is the benchmark to build and test against - be wary of anyone selling it as a legal safe harbour.
Enforcement is national. So are the penalties.
The directive leaves penalties to each member state and requires them to be effective, proportionate and dissuasive.1 The figures below are statutory maxima, not typical outcomes - and beyond fines, non-compliance can draw complaints to market-surveillance authorities, injunctions and reputational damage.2
Up to €100,000
GermanyUnder the Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz (BFSG), the market-surveillance authority can fine non-compliant services up to €100,000.
Fines + criminal liability
IrelandIreland is notable for criminal liability: on conviction on indictment, fines up to €60,000 and/or up to 18 months imprisonment, under S.I. No. 636 of 2023.
Up to €1,000,000
SpainA tiered regime from minor infringements (from €301) up to €1,000,000 for very serious ones, with the possibility of suspending business activity in serious cases.
Administrative fines
FranceFrance transposed the EAA with administrative fines for non-compliant services, plus separate fines for a missing accessibility statement. Reported maxima vary between legal analyses, so check the current French text rather than a headline number.
Turnover-linked fines
ItalyAgID enforces, with a period to cure before fines apply. For the largest providers already covered by the Stanca Law, fines can reach up to 5% of annual turnover.
Administrative fines
LatviaLatvia - where Inclusify is built - transposed the EAA with administrative fines and corrective-measure orders. Exact figures depend on the infringement; check the current national text for your situation.
- 1Directive (EU) 2019/882, Article 30: penalties are set by each member state and must be "effective, proportionate and dissuasive". Figures shown are statutory maxima from national transposition laws as of mid-2026, not typical outcomes; they change as national practice develops, so check the current position for your member state.
- 2Everything on this page is general information about the EAA, not legal advice. For advice on your own situation, speak to a lawyer qualified in your member state.
How Inclusify helps.
No tool makes a site "instantly compliant", and automated testing catches roughly a third of accessibility barriers - full conformance also needs manual testing with assistive technology. What Inclusify gives you is a practical, documented way to find issues against WCAG 2.1 AA, fix them, and keep them fixed.
- 01
Scan
Automated audits against WCAG 2.1 AA using the axe-core engine - the same criteria EN 301 549 references for web content. Every finding names the rule, the affected elements and how to fix them.
- 02
Monitor
From the Starter plan up, recurring daily scans track your site over time, so regressions are caught as you ship changes rather than discovered in a complaint.
- 03
Document
Pro and Enterprise keep a dated PDF of every audit - what was found, what was fixed and when - evidence of the remediation work behind your accessibility effort. Starter keeps the same record in the panel, without the downloadable document.
Built by Magebit, an EU company based in Latvia - EU accessibility software for EU compliance work.
EAA questions, answered.
The short version of what merchants ask us most. For anything about your own situation, ask a lawyer - or ask us about the product.
Talk to usThe European Accessibility Act is Directive (EU) 2019/882, an EU law harmonising accessibility requirements for a range of products and services - including e-commerce. Each EU member state transposed it into national law, and it has been enforceable since 28 June 2025. For online stores, it effectively means your website and checkout must be accessible to people with disabilities.
It can. The EAA applies to e-commerce services offered to consumers in the EU, regardless of where the seller is established. If you sell products or services to EU consumers through your website, the requirements can apply to you even if your company is based in the US, the UK or elsewhere. This page is general information, not legal advice about your specific situation.
The EAA sets functional accessibility requirements rather than naming a single technical checklist. In practice, the European standard EN 301 549 is used to demonstrate conformity, and its web-content clauses incorporate the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 at Level AA. So meeting WCAG 2.1 AA is the practical benchmark most e-commerce sites build and test against.
The EAA has been enforceable since 28 June 2025. There is a transition window until 28 June 2030 for certain service contracts that were in place before the deadline, and some self-service terminals have their own longer timelines. For new and ongoing e-commerce services offered to EU consumers, the requirements already apply.
Penalties are set by each member state and must be "effective, proportionate and dissuasive". They vary widely: for example, up to €100,000 per violation in Germany, up to €1,000,000 for very serious infringements in Spain, and - notably - criminal liability including possible imprisonment in Ireland. Beyond fines, businesses can face complaints, injunctions and reputational damage. Figures change as national practice develops, so check the current position for your member state.
The EAA provides a microenterprise exemption for service providers: businesses with fewer than 10 employees and an annual turnover or balance-sheet total not exceeding €2 million are exempt from the service obligations. Note this exemption works differently for products, and definitions can vary - confirm your status before relying on it.
EN 301 549 is the European standard for the accessibility of ICT products and services. Its requirements for web content incorporate WCAG 2.1 Level AA. The EAA grants a formal presumption of conformity to standards cited under it in the EU's Official Journal, and the updated EN 301 549 for the EAA had not yet been cited as of mid-2026 - so treat WCAG 2.1 AA as the benchmark to build and test against rather than a formal safe harbour.
Inclusify scans your website against WCAG 2.1 AA using the axe-core engine. From the Starter plan up it monitors the pages you choose on a daily schedule and emails you when a scan finds something new; Pro and Enterprise add dated PDF documentation of what was audited, found and fixed - which helps you identify issues, remediate them, and evidence the work. Be realistic about the limits: automated testing catches roughly a third of accessibility barriers, full conformance also needs manual testing with assistive technology, and no tool can guarantee compliance.
Make your website accessible today.
Accessibility opens your site to millions more customers - and protects your business while you do it.
- Scans WCAG
- Scans ADA
- Report in 1 minute