The European Accessibility Act for online stores

Very likely, if you actively sell to consumers in the EU. The Act covers e-commerce services offered to consumers in the EU, and nothing in that definition depends on where the seller is based. That is our reading, not a court ruling. In practice, EU regulators have limited reach over a store with no EU presence, but EU customers, marketplaces and partners can still ask you to meet it.

The European Accessibility Act (EAA) is Directive (EU) 2019/882. EU countries had to turn it into national law by June 28, 2022, and it has applied since June 28, 2025. Each country's law is what an authority actually enforces, so the details and the fines differ by country.

Enforcement is still early. A European Commission page noted in September 2026 that accessibility complaints remain rare. That gives stores time to fix things calmly, but it is not a reason to wait.

The Act lists e-commerce services among the services it covers (Article 2(2)(f)). It defines them as services provided at a distance, through websites and mobile apps, by electronic means, at the consumer's request, with a view to concluding a consumer contract (Article 3(30)).

For a Shopify store, that is the whole path a shopper takes to buy: the storefront, product pages, search and filters, the cart and the order process. Shopify runs checkout itself, so check Shopify's own accessibility reports for that part and focus on what you control.

A microenterprise has fewer than 10 staff and an annual turnover or balance sheet total of no more than €2 million (Article 3(23)). Microenterprises that provide services are exempt from the service accessibility requirements (Article 4(5)).

Even if you are exempt, accessible pages still help you sell to more people, and your larger EU partners or marketplaces may ask for it in their contracts.

In plain words, a covered store needs to do four things.

• Make the service accessible. The accessibility requirements are in Annex I of the Act. For a website, meeting the harmonised standard EN 301 549 is the accepted way to show it.
• Publish service information. Annex V asks you to explain how your service meets the requirements. Most stores do this in an accessibility statement.
• Keep it up. You must show that your processes keep the service accessible over time, not just on the day you fixed it.
• Document any exception. If a requirement would be a disproportionate burden, you must assess and record it (Article 14).

There is a transition rule (Article 32): service contracts agreed before June 28, 2025 may continue until they expire, for up to 5 years, and products already used to provide a service may continue until June 28, 2030. This rarely helps a store's own website, so plan to meet the rules now.

EN 301 549 is the European standard for accessible technology. Its web section is WCAG. Version 3.2.1 uses WCAG 2.1 AA, and it is the version that currently gives a “presumption of conformity”. That means if your site meets it, authorities start from the view that you meet the Act.

Version 4.1.1 was published on September 2, 2026 and moves the web section to WCAG 2.2 AA. It gives that presumption only once it is cited in the Official Journal of the EU, which had not happened as of October 16, 2026.

The Act looks at the whole service a shopper uses to buy. On Shopify, some of that is yours and some is Shopify's.

If you translate your store for EU markets, check each language version, not only English. Alt text, button labels and your accessibility statement need translating too.

Annex V asks service providers to make information available on how the service meets the accessibility requirements. It is usually placed in the terms and conditions or an equivalent page, and it must itself be accessible. It should cover:

• a general description of the service, in accessible formats
• how the service works, explained so people with disabilities can understand it
• which accessibility requirements you meet and how

In practice, an accessibility statement page does the job. Add what you know is not fixed yet, how customers can get help or order another way, and the date you last reviewed it. In German this page is usually called a Barrierefreiheitserklärung. Our statement generator drafts one you can edit.

If meeting a requirement would be a disproportionate burden, or would fundamentally change your service, the Act lets you claim an exception (Article 14 and Annex VI). It is not a simple opt-out. You must:

1. assess the burden against the criteria in Annex VI
2. write the assessment down and keep it for 5 years
3. renew it at least every 5 years
4. tell the relevant authorities, unless you are a microenterprise

For most stores, the common fixes (alt text, labels, contrast, keyboard access) are small, so this exception is unlikely to cover them.

Article 30 leaves penalties to each EU country. They must be “effective, proportionate and dissuasive” and come with orders to fix the problem. Market surveillance authorities in each country can also order a non-conforming service to be changed or stopped.

We list only amounts we have checked against the law itself. Figures for other countries circulate online, but we have not confirmed them, so we leave them out.

Germany's law is the one merchants ask us about most. The Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz (BFSG) is Germany's law that puts the EAA into effect. Section 37 sets fines of up to €100,000 for the main violations and up to €10,000 for others.

Start with the EAA's microenterprise exemption for services and check whether it covers you. For German-language help, a German lawyer or your local chamber of commerce (IHK) is the right next step.

Not as UK law. The UK is not in the EU, so the EAA does not apply to sales inside the UK. A UK store that sells to consumers in EU countries is in the same position as a US or Canadian store: those EU sales can be covered.

Sales inside the UK fall under UK law, which this page does not cover. Check it separately with a UK adviser.

Yes. The European Accessibility Act is the closest match for online stores, though it works differently. The ADA is a broad civil rights law enforced mostly through private lawsuits. The EAA lists specific products and services, including e-commerce, and each EU country enforces it through its own authorities, with fines and orders.

If you sell in both places, read our ADA guide too. The same WCAG 2.2 AA work counts for both.

Six steps, in order. None of them needs an EU office.

Selling from Canada? Our guide to AODA compliance and Canadian accessibility laws covers the rules at home. The federal Canadian rules use the same EN 301 549 standard.