Which companies must make their website accessible?
The German Accessibility Improvement Act (BFSG) has applied since 28 June 2025 to companies offering electronic services to consumers — including online shops, booking systems, and contact forms that initiate contracts. Micro-enterprises with fewer than ten employees and at most two million euros in annual turnover are exempt — for them accessibility remains voluntary, but advisable.
What “accessible” means in practice
The benchmark is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 at level AA: sufficient colour contrast, full keyboard operability, alternative texts for images, correctly labelled forms, a clean heading structure for screen readers, and motion that can be switched off. None of this is rocket science — but none of it can be sprinkled on afterwards. Accessibility is built, not retrofitted.
What happens if you violate the BFSG?
Market surveillance authorities can audit websites, demand fixes within deadlines and impose fines of up to €100,000 for persistent violations. Add the risk of formal warnings by associations. More realistic and more expensive, however, is the silent damage: whoever locks out customers with impairments loses them to the next provider — permanently and unnoticed.
Why accessibility pays off twice
Roughly one in ten people in Germany lives with a disability, plus an ageing society with declining eyesight and motor skills. Accessible sites simply reach more people. And: the same principles that help screen readers — clear structure, clean headings, fast load times, plain language — are exactly what Google and AI search systems reward. Accessibility is SEO with decency.
That is why WCAG 2.1 AA is not an extra with us but our building standard — accessibility statement included. This very website is the proof: rated with the full accessibility score by Google, despite videos, animations and scroll choreography. Show and accessibility are not opposites — you just have to want both from the start.