Does a company's brochure website also need to be accessible?

If the website only presents the company and does not conclude consumer contracts through it, the EAA typically does not apply. In the case of online purchasing, payment or booking, it can already qualify as an ecommerce service.

Knowledge base · Updated: 13 September 2026 · WebPot DEV

Is it mandatory to make your webshop accessible? European Accessibility Act rules in 2026

The short answer: yes, if your webshop sells to consumers and your business is not a microenterprise. The European Accessibility Act (EAA, Directive (EU) 2019/882) and Act XVII of 2022 (2022. évi XVII. törvény), which implements it in Hungary, have applied since 28 June 2025, and ecommerce services fall explicitly within their scope. A microenterprise employing fewer than 10 people with an annual turnover or balance sheet total of at most €2 million is exempt from the service requirements. The practical benchmark is WCAG 2.1 AA, and it applies not only to the homepage but to the entire customer journey.

Situation	Is accessibility mandatory?
Webshop selling to consumers, with at least 10 employees	Yes, since 28 June 2025
Webshop selling to consumers, with turnover and balance sheet total above €2 million	Yes, regardless of headcount
Microenterprise (fewer than 10 employees and at most €2 million)	Exempt from the service requirements, but the exemption ends as soon as the business grows beyond these limits
B2B webshop selling only to businesses	The ecommerce part typically does not apply, but this is worth confirming with a lawyer
Website of a public sector body	Yes, but under a separate act (Act LXXV of 2018, 2018. évi LXXV. törvény)

The guide below explains what this means in practice for a Hungarian webshop: what the authority checks, what needs fixing on the site and what is not worth spending time on. This summary is for information only and does not constitute legal advice.

What does the European Accessibility Act require of your webshop?

The law does not provide a specific list, but requires the service to be perceivable, operable, understandable and robust, including when used with the assistive technologies used by people with disabilities. The presumption of conformity is provided by the harmonised standard EN 301 549, which adopts the WCAG 2.1 A and AA success criteria for websites. For an online shop, three areas deserve particular attention:

The entire customer journey: search, filtering, product pages, the basket, checkout and confirmation.
Identification, security and payment: login, registration and the payment step must all be usable with assistive technology.
Information: the provider must describe, in the terms and conditions or another clearly visible place, how the service meets the accessibility requirements.

Checklist: the most common mistakes on a Hungarian webshop

Area	What to check
Keyboard	The menu, filters, basket and checkout can be navigated without a mouse, and focus is always visible.
Contrast and text	The contrast between text and background is at least 4.5:1, and the text does not break apart at 200% zoom.
Images	Product images and icons have descriptive alt text, and decorative images have empty alt text.
Headings	One H1 per page, with H2 and H3 levels in a logical order, chosen for structure, not for font size.
Forms	Every field has a label, and error messages appear as text and explain what needs to be fixed.
Pop-ups	The cookie banner, newsletter pop-up and basket panel can be closed with the keyboard and do not trap focus.
CAPTCHA	There is an alternative to the image puzzle, otherwise part of the purchase is impossible for some users.
Video	Product videos have captions, and any auto-playing media can be paused.
Statement	An accessibility statement and feedback channel in the terms and conditions or on a separate page.

What not to waste time on

Accessibility widgets and “one-click” plugins do not make a webshop compliant on their own: the faults lie in the template, the forms and the checkout process, and a layer placed over the interface does not fix them. Automated checking tools are useful, but they only catch some of the faults, so the customer journey should also be tested with a keyboard.

Deadlines, exemptions and enforcement

28 June 2025: the requirements apply to new services from this date.
28 June 2030: service contracts concluded before this date may continue unchanged until this date at the latest.
Disproportionate burden: a requirement can be waived if meeting it would impose a disproportionate burden, but this must be supported by a documented assessment.
Enforcement: for ecommerce services, the consumer protection authority (fogyasztóvédelmi hatóság) is responsible, and it can order deficiencies to be remedied and impose fines.

If your webshop is due for a rebuild, it is worth building accessibility into the template and the checkout process from the start, because retrofitting it is more expensive. We have summarised the costs involved in thewebshop development prices 2026 guide, and the other legislation affecting webshops (GPSR, NAV, consumer protection) is summarised on thewebshop development page.

Frequently asked questions about webshop accessibility

Businesses that provide the services listed in the directive to consumers and that are not microenterprises. These include ecommerce, retail banking services, electronic communications, e-books and certain online passenger transport services. Public sector organisations' websites are covered by a separate act.

If the website only presents the company and does not conclude consumer contracts through it, the EAA typically does not apply. As soon as it includes online purchasing, payment or booking, it can qualify as an ecommerce service. Regardless, an accessible design is recommended for every website.

If you employ fewer than 10 people and your annual turnover or balance sheet total is at most €2 million, you are exempt from the service requirements. The exemption ends once your business grows beyond these limits, so it is worth building a new webshop accessible from the outset.

No. Widgets place a layer over the interface, but the faults lie in the template, the forms and the checkout. Achieving compliance requires fixing the code, and the customer journey should also be tested with a keyboard.

For ecommerce services, the consumer protection authority, which can order deficiencies to be remedied and impose fines. For specific legal questions, it is worth involving a specialist lawyer too.

The presumption of conformity is provided by the harmonised standard EN 301 549, which adopts the WCAG 2.1 A and AA success criteria for websites. In practice, WCAG 2.1 AA is therefore the benchmark.

Want to know where your own webshop stands?

Request an accessibility review and an itemised action plan