Make your e-commerce accessible and widen your market by 15% while improving SEO.

Web accessibility is the practice of designing and building accessible websites for everyone, including people with visual, hearing, motor or cognitive disabilities. An accessible site delivers digital inclusion and lets anyone navigate, understand and interact with digital content.

With the EAA (European Accessibility Act) in force since 28 June 2025, web accessibility is no longer a choice but a legal obligation for e-commerce, online banking, transport, streaming and telecoms. Penalties range from 5,000 to 100,000 per violation. Beyond regulatory compliance, an accessible website improves SEO (+15-25%), lifts conversions (+20-35%) and widens your potential market by 15%.

WCAG 2.1 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1) are the international web accessibility guidelines defined by the W3C. They set out how to make web content accessible to people with disabilities through four core principles: perceivable, operable, understandable and robust.

There are three WCAG 2.1 conformance levels: Level A (baseline requirements, 30 criteria), Level AA (the standard required by the EAA, 47 criteria in total) and WCAG AAA (the highest level, 78 criteria in total). Legal compliance across Europe requires Level AA. WCAG AAA is recommended for public bodies, healthcare, education and brands aiming for excellence in digital inclusion.

Making a website accessible follows a structured five-stage process: 1) a complete WCAG 2.1 audit to identify every violation, 2) gap analysis prioritising the issues (high, medium, low risk), 3) implementation of the fixes against the WCAG 2.1 standard, 4) testing with screen readers, keyboard navigation and real users, and 5) certification with an Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR).

The most common interventions to make a site accessible include adding alternative text to every image, ensuring WCAG 2.1 compliant colour contrast, structuring headings correctly (H1-H6), making forms and checkout keyboard-operable, implementing ARIA labels for dynamic components and ensuring videos carry captions. The process does not require rebuilding the site from scratch, only targeted work on the existing code.

The cost of making a website accessible depends on size and complexity. For a mid-size e-commerce (100-500 pages) the range is 8,000-15,000; for complex enterprise sites 20,000-35,000; for landing pages or brochure sites 3,000-6,000. That covers a complete WCAG 2.1 audit, implementation of every fix, testing with assistive technology, compliance documentation and team training.

Timelines to reach WCAG 2.1 Level AA vary: 4-6 weeks for sites with decent foundations (semantic HTML, partial alt text), 6-8 weeks for sites starting from zero, 8-12 weeks for complex multi-country platforms. Add 2-4 weeks for WCAG AAA. I can start within 5-7 days.

WCAG 2.1 Level AA is the standard required by law under the EAA and covers 47 success criteria. It ensures your accessible site can be used by the majority of users with disabilities and strikes the right balance between accessibility, cost and technical feasibility. It is the mandatory minimum for e-commerce, online banking, transport and digital services in Europe.

WCAG AAA is the highest level, with 78 criteria in total, and represents excellence in web accessibility and digital inclusion. It is recommended (not mandatory) for public bodies, healthcare, education, non-profits and brands that make CSR a distinguishing value. Reaching WCAG AAA takes greater investment but positions the company as a leader in inclusion. For EAA compliance, Level AA is sufficient.

Yes, and the impact is measurable. An accessible website optimised to WCAG 2.1 produces concrete results: +15-25% organic traffic (Google rewards accessible sites), +20-35% mobile conversions (more usable forms and checkout), -15-25% bounce rate (clearer, more intuitive navigation) and +18-25% average time on site (content that is easier for everyone to read).

Web accessibility does not only improve the experience for users with disabilities, it improves the UX for everyone: more readable text, clearer navigation, better contrast, more usable forms, captioned video (handy in noisy or silent environments alike). It is good UX design applied to digital inclusion. Investing in web accessibility means investing in business performance.

I hand you a complete Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) certifying WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance (or WCAG AAA if required). It includes detailed audit results for all 47 criteria (78 for AAA), screenshots and evidence from testing with screen readers and keyboard navigation, a public conformance statement to publish on the accessible site, and a maintenance roadmap to hold compliance over time.

In the event of a legal challenge or an inspection under the EAA, I provide full technical support and all the documentation needed to demonstrate compliance with web accessibility standards. The ACR report is legally recognised across Europe and constitutes documentary proof of your diligence. Protect yourself from penalties of up to 100,000 with professional, certified documentation.

Yes, but it is manageable in-house with the right training. Once WCAG 2.1 compliance is reached, every new piece of content (products, pages, images, video) has to meet the accessibility standard: descriptive alt text on new images, correct heading structure (H1-H6), links with descriptive text (never "click here"), keyboard-operable forms and captions on video.

To make your team self-sufficient in keeping the website accessible I provide a practical WCAG 2.1 checklist (15 minutes to verify a new page), hands-on training for editors, marketing and developers (two 2-hour sessions), an accessibility style guide tailored to your brand, and on-demand support for tricky features. Alternatively I offer a monthly maintenance plan from 500 a month, checking periodically that the site holds its WCAG 2.1 compliance and digital inclusion standard.