Will your web shop be available to everyone from June 28 — or will you lose reach?
The first inquiries from our customer environment — including from DMOs and mountain railways — show that the topic is becoming increasingly important across industries.
Digital accessibility is more than just a regulatory requirement. It opens up concrete potential for providers of digital sales processes: greater reach, happier customers, less need for local support — and no additional costs due to subsequent implementation.
Because about 15-20% of the population live with disabilities, which hinder them from using traditional web shops. Accessible offers decide whether to access or exclude this target group — and have a direct effect on conversion, image and usability.
Pricenow's e-commerce solution already meets key accessibility requirements today — and is constantly being developed. This provides a decisive advantage for operators of digital sales processes: legal requirements are not retroactively integrated as expensive individual projects, but are continuously incorporated into product maintenance.
In this way, our customers not only remain legally compliant, but also save effort and budget.
But what exactly does digital accessibility mean — and who is affected?
Die WCAG 2.1 AA standards (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) define central requirements for barrier-free websites, including:
- sufficiently high color contrasts - Texts and buttons must stand out clearly from the background so that they remain legible even when vision is impaired.
- alt texts For images - images require a textual description (“alternative text”) so that screen readers can interpret them.
- eine logically structured navigation - The content should be presented in a meaningful, comprehensible order — including a heading hierarchy and menu navigation.
- complete usability with the keyboard - Users must be able to use the page completely — even without a mouse, e.g. just with the tab key.
- scalable font sizes and flexible layouts - content must be able to be enlarged without loss of quality (e.g. by enlarging in common browsers) so that people with visual impairment can also see everything.
Who does this affect?
- All providers of digital sales processes, such as mountain railways, DMOs, spas or leisure businesses
- Particularly relevant for digital services that are made available to a broad public — for example in tourism, public transport or at events.
The goal:
Equal use for people with disabilities — regardless of whether they are in the area Seeing, hearing, motor skills or cognitive abilities exist.
How modern e-commerce solutions are already thinking about accessibility
While many providers are only now beginning to address digital accessibility, modern e-commerce solutions are already ahead of this step. The topic is also becoming increasingly relevant in the tourism sector — for example with DMOs, mountain railways or spas.
Die E-commerce solution from Pricenow already meets key accessibility requirements today — and is constantly being developed. This has a clear advantage: The platform is technologically designed in such a way that legal requirements do not have to be “grafted on” as project costs retrospectively, but continuously incorporated into product care.
Already implemented:
- compatibility with screen readers (including alt tags, semantic structure, talking buttons and links)
- Navigation via keyboard
- High color contrasts for better readability
In implementation (Q2—Q3 2025):
- Improved Zooming and scaling functionalities
- Introduction of a Declaration of Conformity in accordance with EU Directive
- fine adjustment of focus states and interactive buttons
As a SaaS provider, it is a matter of course for us to take legal developments into account at an early stage. Continuous development is part of our product philosophy. Our customers benefit from regular improvements — without additional costs or complex rework, as is usual in many individually developed shops.
Instead of “retrofitting” accessibility, we have it Part of the architecture right from the start. As a result, our customers not only remain compliant, but also sustainable — especially in an environment in which user-friendliness and digital accessibility are increasingly becoming qualitative decision criteria.
Usability also means excluding anyone
Digital accessibility has long been more than just a regulatory issue. It is a central component of modern user interface — and has a direct effect on Reach, conversion, and brand perception off.
Accessibility creates benefits for everyone, not just for people with disabilities. Because a website that is easy to read, clearly structured and easy to use improves the user experience even for users with poor Internet connections, older devices or temporary restrictions (such as a broken arm or noisy environment).
Why digital inclusion pays off:
- Around 15—20% of the population live with disabilities — worldwide. This includes vision and hearing, motor skills and cognitive abilities.
(Source: WHO — World Report on Disability) - Improved usability = fewer jumps, higher conversions
Anyone who finds information faster, can click through offers barrier-free and receives clear calls to action is more likely to book — with or without restrictions. - Positive SEO effects
Accessible pages are technically cleanly structured, use descriptive URLs, semantic HTML elements and alt tags — all points that Google also takes into account. This improves findability in search engines. - Image enhancement through active inclusion
Even though accessibility features are not visible to the majority of users, providers with barrier-free platforms are showing responsibility — and strengthening their brand vis-à-vis customers, partners and authorities in the long term.
How to make your online shop barrier-free — 3 concrete steps
To ensure that your web shop meets the requirements of the EU Accessibility Act from June 28, 2025, you should take action now. The effort can be planned.
1. Check the web shop - The first step is to take stock:
- Does your web shop already meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards?
These guidelines define minimum technical and design requirements for barrier-free websites. - If you're working with an external provider: Request an audit and assessment. Reputable providers should be able to answer how barrier-free your solution is and what measures may still be missing.
2. Revise content - Technology alone is not enough — the content must also be barrier-free:
- Images need alt tags
In other words, short, descriptive texts that summarize the image content. These are read out by screen readers — crucial for blind or visually impaired users. - Speech must be clear and understandable
Long sets of boxes, technical terms without explanation and overloaded texts act like a barrier. Objective: Comprehensibility for everyone, even with cognitive disabilities or when German is not the mother tongue.
3. Prepare a declaration of conformity
From June 2025, a digital accessibility declaration will be legally mandatory. This statement is intended to disclose:
- How barrier-free is the web shop
- Which standards are met
- and what known restrictions exist (e.g. for specific components)
The declaration must be directly accessible in the web shop and easy to find — e.g. in the footer or under “Accessibility.” (Source: EU Directive 2019/882 (European Accessibility Act))
In order to obtain an initial assessment, various tools can already be used today that make weak points quickly visible.
Helpful audit tools
Use free or open-source tools to test your web shop for accessibility:
- Google Lighthouse
→ Integrated with Chrome DevTools; checks accessibility, performance, and SEO. - axe DevTools
→ Chrome/Firefox extension, ideal for developers and visual feedback. - a11y.coffee/start testing
→ Overview of other tools and manual testing methods — ideal for beginners.
Underestimated requirements — you should pay particular attention to these
At first glance, some requirements seem irrelevant — but they are decisive for barrier-free use in practice:
- Zoom functionality: Users must be able to magnify content to 200% without it being cut off or unreadable. Many designs break down visually here.
→ Solution: Responsive design with scalable units (e.g. em instead of px in CSS). (Source: WCAG Success Criterion 1.4.4 — Resize text) - Navigability without a mouse: All features must via keyboard be operable — e.g. via the tab key. This also applies to menus, buttons, sliders, filter functions and forms.
→ Anyone who has motor restrictions or cannot use a cursor, for example, depends on this function. (Source: WCAG Success Criterion 2.1.1 — keyboard) - Contrasts in hover and focus states: Elements such as buttons or links must even when moving over (hover) or focusing (e.g. via tab) Stay clearly visible. During this phase, they are often only slightly colored — which is problematic for people with poor color vision.
→ Clear focus frames and high-contrast colors improve orientation and usability. (Source: WCAG Success Criterion 1.4.11 — Non-text Contrast)
Accessibility is the next step towards user centricity
Accessibility is no longer a “nice-to-have” — it is an integral part of modern web standards. Anyone who acts now is not only responding to legal developments, but is also specifically improving the user experience of their digital channels.
- Take action now before there is pressure to act
- Even small measures can significantly improve usage
- Digital inclusion not only strengthens reach, but also trust
Accessibility is not the goal of a changeover — it is a consistent next step towards user centricity and digital maturity.
Is your platform ready for everyone?
Check now whether your platform is barrier-free — and take the decisive step by 2025. Get in touch with us and we'll be happy to help.
sources:
- W3C: W3C — Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/, retrieved on May 26, 2025.
- WHO: WHO — World Report on Disability, https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241564182, retrieved on May 26, 2025.
- WCAG Success Criterion 1.4.4 — Resize Text W3C. Understanding Success Criterion 1.4.4: Resize text. :https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Understanding/resize-text.html, retrieval date: May 26, 2025
- WCAG Success Criterion 2.1.1 — keyboard, W3C. Understanding Success Criterion 2.1.1: Keyboard.https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Understanding/keyboard.html Retrieved date: May 26, 2025
- WCAG Success Criterion 1.4.11 — Non-text Contrast, W3C. Understanding Success Criterion 1.4.11: Non-text Contrast. https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Understanding/non-text-contrast.html, retrieval date: May 26, 2025
