Digital Accessibility Obligations for E-commerce

Tecnoacquisti.com
Regulations and Privacy

Directive (EU) 2019/882, also known as the European Accessibility Act (EAA), aims to ensure that digital products and services are accessible to people with disabilities, contributing to a more inclusive European Union that respects the rights of all citizens. For merchants operating on platforms such as PrestaShop, it is critical to understand the scope of this legislation and the practical implications for their e-commerce.

Scope of the Directive

The Directive applies to a wide range of products and services, including:

E-commerce services
Payment terminals
Online banking services
E-books and dedicated readers
Electronic communication services

Who is exempt?

Exempted are:

Microenterprises (fewer than 10 employees and annual or total budget turnover ≤ 2 million euros)
Products or services whose modification to ensure accessibility would impose a disproportionate burden, to be demonstrated and documented objectively

However, even exempted enterprises are morally and strategically incentivized to adopt accessibility principles.

Transposition in Italy: the D.lgs. 82/2022

Italy has implemented the Directive through Legislative Decree No. 82 of March 13, 2022, which imposes accessibility requirements as of June 28, 2025 for online sales of goods and services aimed at the public.

E-commerce Obligations: Summary Table

Category	Turnover / Size	Major Obligations	Notes
B2C - Large Enterprises	> €2 million or >10 employees	Obligation to make site interface and purchasing process accessible	Full obligation
B2C - Microenterprises	≤ €2 million and ≤10 employees	Exempt from the obligation, but recommended accessibility	For ethical and business reasons
B2B - All sizes	All turnovers	Not directly mandatory, except for resale or services to the public	Remains recommended
Marketplace or Aggregators	All	Must ensure platform meets accessibility standards	Shared responsibility

Why accessibility is a strategic advantage

Although regulations exempt micro-businesses, making your e-commerce accessible is an act of social responsibility and can bring direct benefits:

Inclusivity: You reach users with visual, hearing, cognitive or motor disabilities
Improved SEO: Accessible content is also more readable by search engines
Market expansion: You open up business to millions of otherwise excluded users
Reputation: An accessible site strengthens the corporate image

How to check if a site is accessible

There are several tools to check the level of accessibility of your e-commerce:

Lighthouse (integrated in Chrome DevTools): Analyzes performance, SEO and accessibility
WAVE (https://wave.webaim.org): Visual assessment of accessibility issues
axe DevTools: Professional browser extension for developers
Accessibility Insights: Microsoft tool useful for advanced audits

Best practices for making a PrestaShop e-commerce accessible

Even without an immediate regulatory requirement, here are key steps to improve the accessibility of your online shop:

1. Site structure and navigation

Use semantic, uncluttered code (well-structured HTML5)
Ensure keyboard navigation (Tab, Enter)
Offer clear and consistent menus

2. Content and media

Each image must have a descriptive ALT tag
Links must have a clear TITLE and not a generic one ("click here" is to be avoided)
Videos must be captioned
Documents (PDF) must be accessible (selectable text, structural tags)

3. Colors and contrasts

Use high color contrasts between text and background to ensure readability, as required by WCAG 2.1 (minimum 4.5:1 ratio for plain text)
Avoid using only color to distinguish actions or states (e.g., error only in red with no icon or supporting text)

In recent years there has been an aesthetic trend in web design to favor very soft contrasts, but these sacrifice readability and accessibility. A typical example is the use of text in soft gray (#7a7a7a) on off-white or light gray (#f6f6f6) backgrounds, a choice that is visually pleasing but difficult to read for many users, particularly those with visual impairments or in brightly lit environments.

This fad harkens back-in a way that is often misinterpreted-to the minimalist design promoted by Apple, but it takes up only the aesthetics, forgetting the care for usability that characterizes the original products. Instead, an e-commerce site must put the user experience at the center, ensuring clear, readable and functional interaction for all.

4. Forms and interactions

Clear labels (labels) for all form fields
Understandable feedback in the event of an error
Clearly visible and textual buttons

5. Compatibility with assistive technologies

Test the site with screen readers (e.g., NVDA, VoiceOver)
Avoid animations and moving content that cannot be disabled

Current status of PrestaShop regarding accessibility

To date, the majority of e-commerce sites built with PrestaShop are still based on the Classic theme, the default template included with the platform. This theme, however, is not designed according to the criteria of Directive (EU) 2019/882, and is unlikely to be in the future: in fact, the PrestaShop development team has announced the gradual replacement of the Classic theme with the new Hummingbird theme, which is more modern and designed to meet current web requirements, including those related to accessibility.

Among the main shortcomings of the Classic theme in terms of accessibility are:

Absence of labels (labels) in form fields
Lack of aria-selected, aria-label, aria-describedbyattributes
Inadequate handling of tabindex for keyboard navigation
HTML structure not optimized for screen readers

Many add-ons available on PrestaShop Addons also suffer from the same limitations. In fact, currently the validation process for forms published on the marketplace does not include specific accessibility checks, exposing merchants to the risk of even unconscious noncompliance.

The crucial role of content: responsibility of the merchant

It is important to emphasize that the accessibility of an e-commerce site depends not only on the structure of the CMS, but also-and more importantly-on the quality and awareness with which the content is inserted. PrestaShop, like other CMSs, provides a technical base that can be modified, but the actual usability of the site is determined by the merchant's choices.

An obvious example concerns the product sheet: if images are not accompanied by descriptive ALT tags, if links are generic or misleading, if descriptions are poorly formatted or unreadable by screen readers, the site will still be inaccessible, even if the basic structure is compliant.

Any content-image, video, button, form-must also be designed for those who cannot see, touch, hear, or use a mouse. It is therefore the responsibility of those who manage the site to include accessible content from the outset, as an integral part of the publishing process.

Artificial intelligence and accessibility: toward a new paradigm

Artificial Intelligence is rapidly becoming a key resource in the field of accessibility. AI-based tools are already capable of:

Automatically describe images through advanced visual models
Summarize or simplify text for users with cognitive disabilities
Translate content into virtual sign language
Provide intelligent voice commands for web navigation
Dynamically adapt the interface to the user's needs

Looking forward, AI could fill many of the current structural and content gaps by acting as an intelligent mediator between the website and the user, without necessarily requiring manual adaptation of every component.

However, this does not make regulation unnecessary, but opens a scenario in which the synergy between technical compliance and technological innovation becomes essential. In other words, while AI can support and enhance accessibility, it is the responsibility of the Merchant and developers not to create unnecessary obstacles so that these tools can really work.

Conclusion: a poorly communicated but important directive

Unlike the GDPR, which received extensive media coverage and prompted the rush to comply thanks to economic pressure from consultants and industry companies, the Digital Accessibility Directive has so far not benefited from an equivalent information campaign.

The real risk is that, as has already happened with Directive (EU) 2016/2102 on Public Administration sites, this new legislation will also be neglected or only partially implemented, leaving thousands of non-compliant portals even years after it comes into force.

For Merchants operating on PrestaShop, the advice is not to wait for the regulatory obligation, but to start a gradual adaptation process now, relying on developers or agencies with specific expertise in accessibility. It is an investment that brings both ethical and economic benefits, and will make your e-commerce more inclusive, competitive and sustainable over time.

Author: Loris Modena

Improve your e-commerce capabilities

Digital Accessibility: Obligations for E-commerce according to Directive (EU) 2019/882