EAA Compliance Checklist for WordPress Sites

Foreword

If you manage WordPress sites for EU clients, the European Accessibility Act (EAA) affects you directly.

The EAA requires that digital services — including websites, mobile apps, and e-commerce platforms — meet specific accessibility standards. The deadline (June 28, 2025) has now passed. Enforcement is ramping up across EU member states.

This is not about "nice to have" accessibility. This is about legal compliance.

This guide gives you a practical, step-by-step checklist for making WordPress sites EAA-compliant. No theory, no abstract standards — just actionable tasks you can work through site by site.

Chapter 1: The 10-Point Checklist

The checklist covers the accessibility requirements that apply to most WordPress sites:

1. Color contrast — text must meet WCAG AA contrast ratios (4.5:1 for normal text, 3:1 for large text)
2. Alt text on images — every meaningful image needs descriptive alt text; decorative images need empty alt
3. Heading structure — logical heading hierarchy (h1 → h2 → h3) without skipping levels
4. Keyboard navigation — all interactive elements reachable and usable with keyboard alone
5. Screen reader compatibility — ARIA labels, landmarks, and semantic HTML
6. Forms — labels, error messages, and success messages programmatically associated with inputs
7. Multimedia — captions for videos, transcripts for audio
8. Zoom and reflow — content readable at 200% zoom without horizontal scrolling
9. Focus indicators — visible focus outline on all interactive elements
10. Accessibility statement — published page describing your compliance status and contact for feedback

Each item in the full guide includes specific instructions for WordPress: which settings to check, which plugins help, and how to test.