The European Accessibility Act (EAA) came into force in June 2025. If your online store sells to customers in the EU, accessibility is no longer optional—it's a legal requirement. And yet, most stores we audit still have significant issues.

This isn't about checking boxes. An accessible store is a better store for everyone. Here's what you need to know and what to fix first.

What the EAA Actually Requires

The EAA requires that eCommerce services are "perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust." In practice, this means your store must meet WCAG 2.2 Level AA standards. That covers:

All images have meaningful alt text
Keyboard navigation works throughout the site
Colour contrast meets minimum ratios (4.5:1 for text)
Forms have proper labels and error messages
The checkout process is fully accessible
Focus indicators are visible and consistent

The Most Common Issues We Find

After auditing dozens of Shopify and BigCommerce stores, the same problems come up repeatedly:

Top 5 Accessibility Failures

1. Missing alt text on product images — Screen readers can't describe your products if the alt text is empty or just the filename.
2. Poor keyboard navigation — Try navigating your store without a mouse. If you can't complete a purchase, it's broken.
3. Inaccessible dropdown menus — Custom mega menus that only work with hover are unusable for keyboard and screen reader users.
4. Low colour contrast — Light grey text on white backgrounds looks minimal but fails contrast requirements.
5. Form validation errors not announced — When a form field has an error, screen readers need to know about it.

Fixing Your Shopify Store

Start with your theme's accessibility report in Shopify admin. Dawn and most modern themes have decent baseline accessibility, but customisations often break things. Third-party apps are the biggest offenders—review popups, chat widgets, and quick-view modals especially.

For each page, run both automated testing (axe DevTools is free and excellent) and manual testing with keyboard navigation. Automated tools catch about 30% of issues. The rest require human testing.

The Business Case

Beyond compliance, accessible stores simply perform better. Clear navigation, readable text, and well-structured content help every customer—not just those using assistive technology. We've seen conversion rate improvements of 10-15% after accessibility remediation, simply because the store became easier to use for everyone.

What We Recommend

Don't try to fix everything at once. Start with the checkout flow (highest legal risk), then product pages (highest traffic), then the rest. Budget for ongoing monitoring—accessibility isn't a one-time fix. New content, new apps, and theme updates can introduce regressions.