Since 28 June 2025, e-commerce has been among the services covered by new European accessibility requirements. For an online esoteric shop, accessibility is therefore no longer just a matter of ease of navigation: depending on company size and circumstances, it may be a regulatory obligation.
E-commerce is explicitly covered
The requirements aim to ensure that people with disabilities can use the service effectively. In particular, a website must be perceivable, operable, understandable and sufficiently robust to work with assistive technologies.
In practice, this involves very concrete elements: keyboard navigation, contrast, text alternatives for images, heading hierarchy, understandable forms, error messages, checkout and screen-reader compatibility.
Microenterprises providing services benefit from an exemption
The regulations provide an exemption for certain microenterprises providing services, namely those employing fewer than ten people and whose annual turnover or balance-sheet total does not exceed two million euros, under the applicable criteria. A very small e-commerce shop may therefore be exempt from some service-related requirements under this framework.
An exemption does not mean accessibility becomes pointless. A shop just below the thresholds may exceed them later, and an accessible website simply reaches more customers.
Start with the customer journey
The best starting point for a retailer is the real purchasing journey: homepage, search, collection, product page, cart, login, address, payment and confirmation. Each step must be understandable and usable without relying solely on colour, animation or a mouse.
A shop may have a highly readable blog yet a checkout that cannot be used with a keyboard. The audit must therefore cover the full buying journey.
Product images need useful text alternatives
Esoteric shops rely heavily on imagery: stones, pendulums, candles, cards, bottles, symbols and ritual objects. Alt text should not be a stack of keywords. It should convey the important information shown in an image, particularly when needed to understand a product.
Consistent images, titles and descriptions improve accessibility, search visibility and conversion.
Contrast, text sizes and interface
Very light text on beige backgrounds, tiny fonts, hover-only menus and buttons shown as unlabeled icons are common obstacles. They also make websites harder to use for some mobile visitors who do not identify as disabled.
An accessible interface does not have to lose its visual identity. It mainly means not sacrificing usability for aesthetics.
What if compliance would impose a disproportionate burden?
The regulations provide exemptions or adjustments in certain circumstances, including where compliance would fundamentally alter the nature of the service or impose a disproportionate burden. These situations must be assessed against the regulatory criteria and may require a declaration.
Document the assessment rather than claiming a blanket exemption.
Build accessibility into website changes
Fixing an entire website after several years is more expensive than checking each new section as it is added. During a redesign, theme change or installation of a Shopify app, accessibility should be tested alongside mobile compatibility, speed and payments.
This is part of a wider physical and online retail strategy: digital is not a minor side channel when it directly contributes to turnover.
Official sources
DGCCRF — European Accessibility Directive · DGCCRF — business compliance with the Accessibility Directive