Web Accessibility demands new standards by June 28

This article is meant as information and not legal advice. For more information please visit the official European Commission website.

The EAA is part of a broader global movement to ensure that people with disabilities can fully participate in the digital economy. It mandates that websites, mobile apps, and digital interfaces, especially in ecommerce, travel, banking, and other essential services, must be accessible. In the EU, this means aligning with WCAG 2.1, Level AA by default, with WCAG 2.2 now recommended.

If you haven’t heard of these acronyms, we've outlined the summaries below: 

• WCAG: The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) were created by the W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) to ensure the web is accessible to all, including people with disabilities. It’s built on four founding principles: a website has to be perceivable, operable, understandable and robust.
  
• WCAG 2.1 updated in 2018, it expands the original WCAG 2.0 guidelines to include accessibility for mobile users, low vision, and cognitive disabilities.
  
• WCAG 2.2 is still in development and will address specific accessibility issues, focusing on acute cognitive and learning disabilities.
  
• Level AA is the baseline standard required for legal compliance, and what websites must achieve by June 28th. In part 2 we will outline the steps required to meet Level AA, stay tuned.

While the EU is leading the charge, it’s far from alone. In the UK, digital accessibility is covered under the Equality Act 2010, making non-compliant websites vulnerable to legal action for discrimination. In the US, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has been used to sue businesses whose websites aren’t accessible. Australia enforces accessibility through the Disability Discrimination Act and in Argentina, Law 26,653 makes both public and private websites subject to accessibility requirements.

Accessibility is no longer a regional concern, it’s a global expectation. And yet, the current digital landscape tells a very different story.

While public sector websites have been under obligations for years, this is the first time private ecommerce operations are being brought into scope. This means every brand selling goods or services into the EU, regardless of where they’re based must comply.

There is only one exception. Micro-enterprises (businesses with fewer than 10 employees and under €2 million annual turnover) are exempt from these new requirements. But for the rest of ecommerce brands, the law applies in full.

In short: it will change everything.

However, it’s not a case of reinventing the wheel. Rather than re-strategising how we develop websites, it’s about rethinking the choices we make during the process. From sitemapping a more screen-reader friendly journey to prioritising alt text, we can all make more accessible choices.

In practice, WCAG 2.1, Level AA provides a framework for brands to make content more accessible to a wide range of users - visually impaired, hearing impaired, cognitively diverse, and beyond.

This is achieved via:

• Logical, screen-reader-friendly HTML
  
• High-contrast colour palettes and accessible typography
  
• Alt text for meaningful images
  
• Full keyboard navigability (no mouse required)
  
• Clearly labelled form fields and interactive elements
  
• No reliance on hover-only actions or inaccessible JavaScript
  
• Zoomable text and reflow-friendly layouts

The impact will stretch across multiple roles. UX and design teams will need to rethink visual hierarchies and interactions. Developers will need to refactor code. Merchandisers will need to ensure product content is properly structured. Even customer service teams will play a role in addressing new user needs, on the frontlines addressing accessibility mishaps in real-time and typing query responses for articulation. 

For ecommerce brands operating across borders, especially in fashion, beauty, and lifestyle, there’s added complexity. Multi-language sites, mobile-first UX, dynamic merchandising: all of it now needs to meet accessibility standards. And for Shopify brands, that may involve careful theme updates, app evaluations, and frontend adjustments.

A few interesting mandates you could miss:

• Alt text: every image needs a voice
  
• Contextual CTAs: “Click Here” is not enough, Call to actions must be clear and easy for screen-readers to translate.
  
• All visible text must have enough contrast with its background to be clearly readable. Small text must meet a higher threshold than large, bold text.
  
• Animated banners will cause problems… we’ll tell you why in part 2!

Failure to meet these standards will result in a poor user experience, and it could soon mean fines, reputational damage to your brand, and exclusion from major markets. And as with GDPR, early non-compliance is likely to attract the highest scrutiny.

But just as importantly, inaccessibility excludes customers. With over 87 million people in the EU living with some form of disability, that’s not just unethical, it’s bad business.