Digitally accessible – or soon to be left out?

The countdown is on: On June 28, 2025, the Accessibility Reinforcement Act (BFSG) will come into force. But reality shows that many online stores are not yet ready. The new Accessibility Study 2025 reveals: The digital shopping world is still full of avoidable hurdles.

According to the new study on accessibility by Aktion Mensch, Google, Stiftung Pfennigparade and UDG, only a fifth of the most visited German online shops meet the minimum legal requirements for accessibility. There is a particularly frequent lack of functioning keyboard operability and compatibility with screen readers. In view of the upcoming deadline, André Roitzsch, CEO of SHOPMACHER, predicts that there will be an increasing need for resources to implement the most necessary optimizations in the coming months. Online retailers should focus on five measures in particular in order to meet the requirements of the BFSG.

1. BFSG: No reason to panic, but not to be careless either

The BFSG is the German implementation of the European Accessibility Act (EAA) and obliges digital sales platforms to comply with the internationally recognized WCAG-AA criteria. Violations can be punished with fines in accordance with §37 BFSG. Nevertheless, an immediate tsunami of checks is not to be expected from June 29 – simply because the legislator has not yet created the necessary structures for comprehensive checks.

However, experience shows that affected users are increasingly willing to enforce their rights collectively. Accordingly, we can expect growing pressure and an increased need for resources to implement the FSIA requirements – even without a formal wave of warnings.

2. BFSG is also an issue for B2B retailers

In the B2B sector in particular, there is a widespread misconception that the law does not apply because platforms are “not public”. However, this is at best only half the truth. B2B platforms also generally have publicly accessible pages – and these must be accessible from the cut-off date at the latest. In addition, registered users with legitimate claims could also turn to the law for compliance. Retailers who fail to act here risk unnecessary loss of reputation – and potential trouble.

3. It’s not about regulation, but about a better user experience

Accessibility is not a bureaucratic burden, but a functional upgrade: if you design your platform so that people with disabilities can use it intuitively, you generally improve the experience for everyone else too. A checkout with more generous touch fields helps on a moving bus just as much as optimized contrasts in bright sunlight. The requirements of the BFSG therefore do not lead to a complexity trap – but to better conversion rates.

4. BFSG: Effort is often overestimated

Many retailers block themselves by adopting an “all or nothing” attitude. The issue of accessibility is often postponed due to concerns about complex technical requirements – although initial progress could be made with little effort. Even simple measures such as well-maintained ALT texts, structured headings or clear link formulations can noticeably improve accessibility. This can often be implemented editorially and without in-depth technical know-how – by interns or working students. Those who ignore the “low-hanging fruit” are giving away easily achievable improvements. Those who make use of them make faster progress.

5. Check tools are helpful, but no substitute for real testing

The hope that the next store software update or a new accessibility plugin will somehow solve the issue persists. In fact, many providers are currently working on accessible themes, UI components or modules – that is progress. However, no update in the world will automatically make a digital offering legally compliant. The same applies to automated accessibility scanners and AI-based testing tools. They can provide valuable information – for example, on the question of whether problems are of a technical or editorial nature. But they only detect superficial weaknesses. What really counts in the end is what is usable. And this is not assessed by algorithms, but by people. A manual check is essential to identify unclear content structures, incorrect focus or missing semantic markup logic.

6. To-do list instead of panic actionism

The first step for all retailers is a well-founded assessment of where they stand: Which requirements have already been met? Which are not? Which measures can be implemented in the short term – and which require a longer roadmap? If you have this overview, you can set well-founded priorities, communicate transparently to the outside world – and build up targeted resources internally. Because as André Roitzsch emphasizes: “What many lack is neither budget nor technology, but a clear plan.”

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