Web accessibility: is your site compliant with the 2025 law?

What changed on 28 June 2025?

Since 28 June 2025, the European Accessibility Act (EAA) has applied across the European Union: e-commerce sites and consumer-facing digital services must be accessible to people with disabilities. Before that date, the obligation mostly covered the public sector and certain large companies. Now a broad slice of the private sector is in scope. No need to panic though: compliance is a step-by-step process, and most fixes are well-known technical corrections. One useful caveat: this guide is informational and does not replace legal advice tailored to your situation.

Is your business covered?

Yes, if you sell online or offer a digital service to consumers in the EU: e-commerce stores, online booking, ticketing, banking, e-books, mobile apps. There is an exemption for service microenterprises: fewer than 10 employees and under 2 million euros in annual turnover. A simple brochure site with no online sales is not the primary target of the law. In France, enforcement involves the consumer protection authorities, and the official portal economie.gouv.fr publishes the reference information. Even if you are exempt, acting is worth it: accessibility widens your audience and strengthens your search visibility.

What is the French RGAA framework, in plain terms?

The RGAA is the official French method for verifying that a website is accessible: version 4 contains 106 checkpoints. It turns the international WCAG guidelines into concrete, testable criteria, targeting the so-called double-A level. In practice, auditors check that every image has a text alternative, every form field has a label, and everything works with a keyboard. A compliant site also publishes an accessibility statement listing what was checked and any exemptions claimed. If you sell into the French market or work with a French agency, the RGAA is the natural working framework, and passing it means passing the European requirements at the same time.

What are the 8 priority fixes?

Eight fixes cover the vast majority of barriers real users hit, and most can be handled without a full rebuild:

Why does accessibility also improve your SEO?

Because Google reads your site much like a screen reader does: image alternatives, heading hierarchy, explicit links and clean code are shared criteria between accessibility and search rankings. An accessible site is also easier for AI answer engines to understand, since they favour well-structured content. That is exactly the logic behind Neting's SEO and GEO services, including the AI-Ready Audit at 690 € which covers the baseline fixes. One project, two payoffs: compliance and visibility. Every hour spent on accessibility is also an hour spent on how search engines and answer engines perceive your site.

How can you test your site quickly?

Three free tests give you a first diagnosis in 15 minutes. One: browse your site using only the keyboard, with the Tab key; if you lose focus or get stuck, you have a problem. Two: run an automated audit with a free tool such as PageSpeed Insights or Lighthouse, which scores each page's accessibility. Three: zoom to 200% in your browser and check that everything stays readable. These quick checks do not replace a full audit, but they tell you straight away whether your site needs attention, and in which areas. For deeper support, the public programmes listed on francenum.gouv.fr help small businesses with digital compliance.

How does Neting build accessibility into its websites?

At Neting, accessibility is built in from the design stage, not patched on afterwards: verified contrast, image alternatives, keyboard navigation and labelled forms are part of the production standard. The Essential package at 490 € delivers a site that goes live 5 days after the specs are approved; the Business package at 990 € covers up to 8 pages with booking and payment. Free quote, answer within 24h. And since compliance does not stop at accessibility, read our guide on GDPR compliance for your website: the two projects work well together.