Accessible webshop: the European Accessibility Act explained

What changed in 2025

For a long time digital accessibility was something for municipalities and ministries. That is over. Under the European Accessibility Act, implemented in the Netherlands as the accessibility requirements act, commercial services have had to be accessible since 28 June 2025. Webshops are explicitly covered, as are banking, telecoms, e-books and transport tickets.

The standard is the same as for government: EN 301 549, and therefore WCAG level AA. The difference is in supervision. For businesses the Dutch consumer authority supervises, and it can impose fines of up to 900,000 euro. In a first broad check of large webshops, more than half turned out to be impossible to order from for someone with a disability.

Since 28 June 2025

No transition period left for new services

Supervised by the regulator

Warning, penalty payment or fine

Up to 900,000 euro

Maximum fine, or a percentage of turnover

Is your webshop covered?

Situation	Covered	Exempt
25 employees, 4 million turnover	Yes
12 employees, 1 million turnover	Yes
6 employees, 3 million turnover	Yes
4 employees, 500,000 turnover		Yes, micro business
Business customers only, no consumers		Yes, outside the scope
Grows from 8 to 11 employees	Yes, from that moment

What the regulator looks at in practice

Can you go through the entire checkout with the keyboard?

Do form fields have labels and error messages in words?

Do product images have meaningful alternative text?

Does the text have enough contrast, including in discount blocks?

Does the site work at 200 percent zoom and on a narrow screen?

Are customer service and chat as operable as the rest?

What your chat contributes

The contact channel counts

The law looks at the whole service, including how your customer asks for help. A chat window that cannot be opened with a keyboard is the webshop's problem, not the supplier's.

Accessible alternative

If your site is not fully there yet, a channel where someone can simply ask helps. It is not a free pass, but it stops a visitor getting stuck.

Keyboard and screen reader

WillieChat is built to WCAG 2.2 AA: operable with Tab and Enter, with every reply announced to the screen reader.

Contrast that adapts

The widget takes over your brand colour and picks a text colour that gives enough contrast. The admin panel warns you when a colour is too light.

Read-aloud for those who want it

The optional read-aloud function helps customers who find reading hard, exactly the group that otherwise gives up on a long returns policy.

Multilingual

Dutch, English, German and Spanish, with the right language code per message so screen readers get the pronunciation right.

How to start

Run the self-test above on your own checkout. Try ordering a product once using only your keyboard.

First tackle what blocks people: forms, contrast and operation. That is usually cheaper than a full rebuild too.

Make sure your contact channels join in. An accessible chat is quickly arranged and catches what is not yet perfect elsewhere.

Frequently asked questions

I have a small webshop, does this apply to me?

For services there is an exemption for micro businesses: fewer than ten employees and at most two million euro in turnover or balance sheet total. Note the word and: if you meet only one of the two, you are simply covered.

What happens if I do not comply?

The regulator usually starts with a warning and a reasonable period. After that a penalty payment or fine can follow, up to 900,000 euro or a percentage of turnover. Separately from that, you lose customers who cannot order.

Is there a transition period?

Not for new services; the law has applied since 28 June 2025. There are limited transitional rules for certain existing content and running service contracts, but do not build your planning on them.

Does an accessibility overlay help?

Usually not. An overlay is a script laid over your site afterwards; it does not fix the underlying code and both regulators and experts by experience look at it critically. Invest in the site itself instead.

Should my supplier provide evidence?

That is the sensible route. You remain answerable for your whole service, so for every purchased component, including your chat, ask how it meets WCAG AA and what is still open.

Accessible webshop