Accessibility for online stores: the European Accessibility Act applies to you
Why e-commerce is explicitly covered by the Accessibility Act, which parts of a store fail most often, and how to fix them in a theme.
The short answer
E-commerce services appear explicitly in the European Accessibility Act’s list of covered services, which makes an online store selling to consumers a clear case rather than a borderline one, subject to the microenterprise exemption for services and to how your country has implemented the directive. The practical standard is the harmonised European standard, aligned with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines at level AA. Stores fail in predictable places, and almost all of them live in the theme or in a small number of apps rather than in individual product pages: option selectors that a keyboard cannot operate, galleries that trap focus, filters without labels, quantity controls that are not real inputs, error messages conveyed by colour alone, and checkout steps that lose focus between stages. Because they are concentrated in components, fixing them is a bounded project rather than a page-by-page slog. And the fixes improve conversion for everyone, because the same problems are friction for sighted mouse users on phones and impossibilities for others.
The six failures we find
| Failure | What happens | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| Option selectors | Colour and size swatches built from styled elements with click handlers; keyboard cannot reach or select them | Real radio inputs or buttons with proper roles, labels and states |
| Image gallery and zoom | Thumbnails not focusable; zoom overlay traps focus; no way to close with the keyboard | Focusable controls, focus management on open and close, escape to close |
| Filters and sorting | Controls without labels; changes announced to nobody; results update silently | Labelled controls; a status message announcing the result count |
| Quantity controls | Plus and minus buttons around a display rather than a number input | A labelled number input with buttons as enhancements |
| Error messages | Red borders only; errors far from the field; generic wording | Errors in text, linked to the field, describing the fix, announced |
| Checkout steps | Focus lost between steps; progress not announced; time limits | Manage focus on step change; announce progress; avoid or extend limits |
Fixing a store
- Run automated checks across template types: home, collection, product, cart, checkout, account, search.
- Do the manual pass: complete a purchase using only the keyboard, then with a screen reader.
- List failures by component, not by page.
- Fix in the theme components, so every product inherits the fix.
- Audit the apps: many failures arrive with review widgets, popups and upsell blocks; replace or configure the worst.
- Check contrast across the palette, including sale badges and disabled states.
- Add checks to the deployment process so regressions do not ship.
- Test on a real phone with the screen reader on, which is how many customers shop.
- Document conformance and publish a statement if in scope.
The conversion argument
Every item on the list above is friction for ordinary customers too. Option selectors that are hard to hit on a phone, galleries that will not close, filters whose effect is unclear, quantity fields that fight you, errors that do not say what is wrong, and checkouts that lose your place all cost sales from people who could technically complete the purchase but gave up. Fixing them for accessibility fixes them for everyone, which is why we treat this as store optimisation with a legal benefit rather than compliance with a cost.
What this means for you
E-commerce is explicitly covered by the Accessibility Act, subject to the microenterprise exemption and national implementation, with level AA as the practical standard. Audit your store by template, fix in the theme components, keep the app list short and retest after installs, check contrast and focus management, and put checks into your deployment process. The same work reduces abandonment, which makes it one of the few compliance projects that pays for itself. This is general information rather than legal advice.
Frequently asked questions
Is our shop really covered?
E-commerce services are listed in the Act, and obligations applied from 28 June 2025 for services provided from that date. The exemption for microenterprises providing services, fewer than ten people and turnover or balance sheet total not exceeding two million euros, takes many small shops out of the service obligations, though not out of product obligations where relevant. Scope is set by national implementation, so confirm your position locally rather than assuming either way.
Which parts of a store fail most often?
Product option selectors built from styled elements that a keyboard cannot reach; image galleries and zoom that trap focus or cannot be operated without a mouse; filters and sort controls with no labels; quantity steppers that are not real inputs; error messages shown only in colour; and checkout steps where focus is lost between stages. Those six are what we look for in audits, and each is fixable in the theme.
Does an accessible store cost conversions?
The opposite, usually. Clear labels, visible focus, adequate contrast, real form fields, error messages that say what is wrong and how to fix it, and controls big enough to tap all help every customer, especially on phones. Store audits that fix accessibility failures frequently report better completion rates, because the failures were friction for everyone and impossibilities for some.
Sources
- EUR-Lex: Directive (EU) 2019/882 (European Accessibility Act) (accessed 2026-09-12)
- W3C: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 (accessed 2026-09-12)