EAA Compliance for Shopify Stores

Chapter 1: What the EAA Means for Your Shopify Store

The European Accessibility Act (Directive 2019/882) took full effect on June 28, 2025. It requires that products and services sold in the EU meet common accessibility standards. For e-commerce stores — including those built on Shopify — this means your website must be usable by people with disabilities.

Who must comply

Any business selling to EU consumers, regardless of where the business is headquartered. A Shopify store based in New York, Sydney, or Singapore that ships to customers in Germany, France, or Spain must comply.

Covered products and services under the EAA

For an e-commerce store, the EAA covers:

• The entire browsing experience (product catalog, search, navigation)
• Product selection and purchasing (filters, size/color selectors, add-to-cart)
• Checkout and payment flows
• Customer accounts and order tracking
• Contact forms and support interfaces

What happens if you don't comply

Each EU member state sets its own penalties. Current enforcement examples:

• Germany (BFSG): fines up to €100,000 per violation
• France: fines up to €75,000, with daily penalties for ongoing non-compliance
• Netherlands: administrative fines, plus orders to remediate within deadlines
• Spain: fines up to €600,000 for serious infractions
• Sweden: fines up to €900,000

Beyond fines: enterprise partners increasingly ask for proof of EAA compliance before signing contracts. A non-compliant store can lose B2B revenue even without a direct fine.

The standard you need to meet

The EAA references EN 301 549, which in turn references WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the baseline technical standard. From 2026, WCAG 2.2 Level AA is increasingly the expected level. Practically, WCAG 2.1 AA covers everything you need for compliance — WCAG 2.2 adds a few new criteria that most Shopify themes already meet.

Chapter 2: EAA Compliance Requirements for E-commerce

The EAA's accessibility requirements map to four principles, known as POUR:

Perceivable

Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive.

For a Shopify store this means: - Text must have sufficient contrast against backgrounds (WCAG 1.4.3: 4.5:1 ratio for normal text, 3:1 for large text) - Images must have text alternatives (alt text) — especially product images - Content must adapt to different screen sizes and zoom levels - Colour must not be the only way to convey information (e.g., price changes indicated by colour alone)

Operable

User interface components and navigation must be operable.

For a Shopify store this means: - All functionality must be available from a keyboard (no mouse-only interactions) - Users must have enough time to read and use content - Content must not cause seizures (no flashing animations) - Navigation must be consistent and predictable - Focus indicators must be visible when tabbing through the page

Understandable

Information and the operation of the user interface must be understandable.

For a Shopify store this means: - Text must be readable (plain language where possible) - Pages must appear and operate in predictable ways - Input assistance must help users avoid and correct mistakes - Form labels must be clear and associated with their fields

Robust

Content must be robust enough to be interpreted by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies.

For a Shopify store this means: - HTML must be valid and semantically correct - ARIA landmarks and roles must be used correctly where needed - Custom interactive elements (sliders, accordions, modals) must work with screen readers