Online store accessibility (EAA): what to change and how to check

Since 28 June 2025, online stores selling to consumers in the EU must be accessible to people with disabilities. The rule comes from the European Accessibility Act (EAA, Directive (EU) 2019/882), transposed in Romania by Law no. 232/2022 and in Denmark by the act on accessibility requirements for products and services. Below I explain, in the language of a small or medium store, who is in scope, what has to change in practice and how to check where you stand yourself. 1. Who is in scope The EAA covers e-commerce services: the website, the app and the whole customer journey up to payment. The platform doesn't matter: WooCommerce, Shopify or a local platform are treated the same. Microenterprises providing services are exempt. A microenterprise has fewer than 10 employees and an annual turnover or balance sheet of no more than 2 million euros. If you have 4 employees and 600,000 euros in turnover, your store, as a service, is not obliged. Above that threshold, the obligation applies. A store with 12 employees or 2.5 million euros in turnover must meet the requirements. Products are separate from services. If you sell products directly covered by the EAA (for example e-readers, phones or payment terminals), the microenterprise exemption does not cover the products themselves. There is a "disproportionate burden" exception , but it has to be assessed and documented, not just claimed. Even if you're exempt, it's worth doing the basics. Customers with low vision, older people or anyone shopping on a phone in bright sunlight run into the same problems as people with disabilities. And companies grow: in two years you might cross the threshold. 2. Which standard to use as a reference The law describes general requirements: content must be perceivable, operable, understandable and robust. In practice, the technical reference is the European standard EN 301 549, which for websites adopts the WCAG 2.1 level AA criteria. When a developer tells you a site "meets WCAG 2.1 AA",…