EAA checker: scope, automated WCAG 2.2 check and accessibility information
Updated October 13, 2026 · 6 min read
An EAA checker answers three questions: does the European Accessibility Act apply to your business, which accessibility problems can be found on your website automatically, and do you publish the accessibility information the law asks for. If the first answer is "no", the other two are good practice rather than a legal duty.
This page explains each step and what an automated check can and cannot tell you. It is an automated check, not a full audit, and not legal advice.
Step 1: Does the EAA apply to you?
The EAA (Directive (EU) 2019/882) has applied to services since 28 June 2025. It does not cover every website. Answer three questions:
- Do you sell to consumers (B2C)? A shop that only sells to businesses is assessed differently.
- Is your service in an EAA sector? E-commerce, consumer banking, e-books, passenger transport, electronic communications and access to audiovisual media services.
- Are you larger than a micro-enterprise? A micro-enterprise has fewer than 10 employees and an annual turnover or balance sheet total of no more than €2 million. Micro-enterprises that provide services are exempt.
The third question catches many people out. A shop with 4 employees, €3 million turnover and a €0.4 million balance sheet is still a micro-enterprise, because with fewer than 10 employees both figures would have to exceed €2 million. More examples are in who does the EAA apply to.
The EAA also covers companies outside the EU that sell to consumers in the EU. National laws transpose it, for example the BFSG in Germany, the Polish act, the Czech act 424/2023 and Romania's Law 232/2022.
Step 2: Check the website against WCAG 2.2 AA
The EAA describes requirements in functional terms. In practice, the reference is the harmonised standard EN 301 549, which builds on WCAG level AA:
- The harmonised version today is EN 301 549 V3.2.1, based on WCAG 2.1 AA.
- V4.1.1, based on WCAG 2.2 AA, was published in September 2026; its citation in the Official Journal of the EU is expected at the end of 2026.
We check against WCAG 2.2 AA, so you do not have to redo the work when the new version is cited.
Which pages to scan
A home page alone says little. Choose the pages where customers act:
| Page | Typical problems a scan finds |
|---|---|
| Category with filters | filter buttons without a name, low contrast |
| Product page | images without alt text, variant pickers without labels |
| Cart | icon buttons without a name, quantity fields without labels |
| Checkout | form fields without labels, error messages that are not announced |
| Login and account | missing labels, missing autocomplete hints |
| Contact form | fields without labels, missing page language |
Start with one page in our free check – the cart or a product page shows the most.
What the scan can and cannot tell you
Automated tools reliably find problems that can be detected in the code: missing alternative text, insufficient contrast, unlabelled form fields, buttons without an accessible name, missing language attributes. Studies estimate how much they cover differently: in a test by the UK Government Digital Service, the best single tool found about 40% of deliberately planted barriers and all tools together 71%; Deque measured 57% of issues by volume in real audits.
What a scan cannot judge: whether an alternative text is meaningful, whether the checkout can be completed with a keyboard from start to finish, whether a screen reader user understands an error message. For that you need a manual test. The difference is explained in automated or manual testing and in our page on an accessibility audit.
Step 3: Publish the accessibility information
Article 13 and Annex V of the EAA require service providers to explain how their service meets the accessibility requirements, in their general terms and conditions or an equivalent document. Most shops publish a separate page linked from the footer.
A scan cannot write this text, because it describes your service. Our draft is built from a short questionnaire; scan results only feed the section on known limitations and the plan to fix them. The draft is for review by your lawyer. Structure and common mistakes are covered in the accessibility statement guide; a quick start is the free statement generator.
What the result of an EAA check looks like
At the end you have:
- a scope result: in scope, not in scope or unclear, with the reason;
- a list of problems grouped by WCAG criterion and severity, starting with what blocks a purchase;
- fixing steps for Shopify, WooCommerce, PrestaShop and Shoptet;
- a draft of the accessibility information for your lawyer;
- weekly monitoring if you want it, so that a theme or plugin update does not bring the problems back.
The one-off express report and the subscriptions are described on the pricing page.
Enforcement: what is actually happening
National market surveillance authorities check websites and handle complaints. The Czech Trade Inspection Authority (ČOI), for example, inspected 47 online shops in Q2 2026 and found breaches in 10. Courts are hearing accessibility cases too. We know of no confirmed EAA fines against online shops as of October 2026. Calm, steady work is a better answer than panic.
Frequently asked questions
What does an EAA checker actually check?
Three things: whether the European Accessibility Act applies to your business at all, which accessibility problems an automated WCAG 2.2 AA scan finds on your key pages, and whether you publish the accessibility information the EAA asks for.
Can an automated EAA check confirm that my site meets the law?
No. Automated tools find only part of the problems, and whether a service meets the requirements is a legal assessment. Our check is an automated check, not a full audit, and not legal advice.
Does the EAA apply to small online shops?
Not to micro-enterprises: fewer than 10 employees and an annual turnover or balance sheet total of no more than €2 million. Service providers of that size are exempt from the requirements.
Which pages should I check first?
The pages where customers get something done: a category page, a product page, the cart, checkout up to payment, registration and login, and the contact form.
Sources
- Directive (EU) 2019/882 (European Accessibility Act) on EUR-Lex
- Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 – W3C
- Government Digital Service: what we found when we tested tools on the world's least accessible webpage
- Deque: automated testing study
- ČOI, inspections of online sales in Q2 2026: coi.gov.cz