Guide · European Union
The European Accessibility Act has been enforceable since June 2025
The EAA applies to businesses selling to consumers in the EU — including businesses based outside it. If you take orders from the EU, the fact that your company sits elsewhere does not put you outside its scope.
- Enforceable since 28 June 2025
- Applies to non-EU sellers to EU consumers
- E-commerce is explicitly in scope
What the Act actually changes for a website owner.
The date has passed
The EAA became enforceable on 28 June 2025. This is not a deadline you are preparing for; it is a rule already in force.
Where you are based does not settle it
Scope follows the customer. Selling to consumers in the EU can bring you in even when the business, the team and the servers sit outside it.
E-commerce is named
Online stores are explicitly in scope, which is why WooCommerce and Shopify owners are usually the first to ask about it.
A published statement is expected
The Act expects a public accessibility statement — a dated, specific description of where your site stands, on your own domain.
Enforcement has started
The first lawsuits were filed in France in November 2025, and enforcement is ramping through 2026.
WCAG 2.2 AA is the working bar
The EU standard EN 301 549 leans on WCAG. AbleGuard tests against WCAG 2.2 at level AA, graded by axe-core.
A sane order to work in.
Find out where you actually stand
Run a scan and read the list. Most owners have never seen their own failures written in plain English, and the answer changes what you do next.
Fix what is safely fixable, and verify it
Attributes and CSS only, applied at the source where your platform allows it, then re-measured on the live page rather than assumed.
Publish a statement and keep it current
Generated from real scan data, dated, on your own domain — and re-generated when the site changes rather than left to rot.
Being scanned, fixed and documented is not the same as being compliant.
The EAA is a law, not a checklist a vendor can tick on your behalf, and no software can certify you against it. Automated testing reaches the machine-detectable part; the rest is human judgement, which is why AbleGuard ships a 16-check manual list instead of pretending the score is the whole picture.
- We do not certify EAA conformance
- We do not provide legal advice on your obligations
- A score is not a legal position
Frequently asked questions
About this guide. The product-wide questions are on the features page.
We are not in the EU. Does this apply to us?
It can. The Act follows the customer rather than the company, so selling to consumers in the EU may bring you into scope even with no EU entity. Where that line falls for your business is a question for your lawyer, not a scanner.
What does "partially conformant" mean on a statement?
It means some of WCAG is met and some is not, stated plainly with a date. It is the honest position for almost every real site, and it is what AbleGuard generates — the wording is hard-coded rather than optimistic.
Which standard does AbleGuard test?
WCAG 2.2 at level AA, graded by axe-core, the engine much of the industry audits with. If you see 2.1 anywhere in older material, it is stale.
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