Digital Accessibility · WCAG and EAA
Digital accessibility for your webshop, with our own measurement.
If you sell online to consumers, the European Accessibility Act has applied since 28 June 2025, unless your business is very small. On this page, you can read what that directive, the WCAG standard, and your information requirements entail. And what we at EQwise measure ourselves, on eqwise.nl, including the date.
At EQwise, accessibility is not a separate service. Every site we build from 1 October 2026 must have at least 95% of its text readable for visually impaired people, and we measure this upon delivery. Full WCAG conformity is only available upon request.
READABLE99.87%
Of all visible text on 31 pages of eqwise.nl, in a black and a white contrast theme and with 24 px browser fonts. Measured on 7 October 2026. Our own benchmark is 95%.
Our Own Measurement
What we measured on eqwise.nl
We tested our own site against the question a visually impaired visitor asks: can I still read this if I set my screen to high contrastContrast How much a colour differs from the background, and therefore how well something can be read. or large fonts? Four outcomes, each with a benchmarkBenchmark A comparative figure, such as the average within your industry. and date.
99.87% of the text is readable
All visible text on 31 Dutch pages, at 390 and 1440 px wide. Readable means: a contrast of at least 4.5 to 1 (large text 3 to 1) in both a black and a white contrast themeTheme The design package that determines the appearance of a WordPress site., and not cut off or out of view with 24 px browserBrowser The program you use to view websites, such as Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge. fonts. The worst page achieved 99.0%. The English site also achieved 99.87% on 8 October.
From 95 to 0 in graphics
On the SEOSEO Everything you do to improve your visibility in Google without paying for advertisements. and GEOGEO Ensuring that AI assistants like ChatGPT recognise, mention, and recommend your business when someone asks them for advice. page, we measured 134 texts within graphics. In a black contrast theme, 95 were unreadable. After adjustment, that number was 0.
No text overflow with large fonts
On 31 pages, no text runs off the screen with 24 px browser fonts, measured at 320, 390, and 1440 px wide. You don’t have to scroll sideways to read a line.
Logo and icons remain visible
In the header, footerFooter The fixed bottom section of every page, featuring contact details, important links, and social media., and mobile menu, the logo and icons remain visible, in both black and white contrast themes, simulated in Chrome, Firefox, and WebKit.
How was this measured?
We opened the pages of eqwise.nl and simulated the Windows contrast theme, first black and then white. Then we set the browser’s default font to 24 px. For each page, we measured what proportion of the text was still readable. If a page fell below our 95% benchmark, the text or design was adjusted, and it was measured again. This is how the graphic on the SEO and GEO page was fixed.
This is a simulation in a browser. We did not test on a real Windows machine with a real contrast theme. What that means, you can read below.
What the measurement doesn’t say
Readable in contrast mode is not yet WCAG conformity
Your management will ask if eqwise.nl then complies with WCAGWCAG The international guidelines that define when a website is accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities.. The honest answer is that we did not measure that. We measured one component: readability in contrast mode and with large fonts. That is part of what visually impaired visitors need, and not the entirety of WCAG. We did not test the following:
✓screen reader operation
✓keyboard-only operation
✓forms, including error messages
✓behaviour on a real Windows machine with a real contrast theme
Even within the measurement, not everything is readable: 99.87% means a small part is not. If you want full conformity, that is a separate process. We offerOffer A component of structured data in which an offer including price is recorded. this only upon request, for new builds and for existing sites that do not yet comply.
WCAG
What is WCAG, and what does digital accessibility mean?
WCAG is the international guideline for accessible websites. The Web ContentContent All content on your website, such as text, images, and videos. Accessibility Guidelines come from the W3C, the organisation that also creates web standards. Digital accessibility means that people with disabilities can perceive, operate, and understand your website, for example, with a screen reader, using only the keyboard, or with large fonts and high contrast.
The guideline has three levels: A, AA, and AAA. WCAG 2.2 has been an official W3C standard since 5 October 2023. It contains nine new success criteria, and one old criterion (4.1.1) has been removed. If your site complies with WCAG 2.2, it also complies with WCAG 2.1 according to the W3C.
Specifically, it concerns things like sufficient contrast between text and background, a description for every image that conveys information, a logical structure of headings, and buttons that are large enough for a finger. More about the standard can be found at WCAG. Which version and level apply to your webshop can be found in the section on the European Accessibility Act.
European Accessibility Act
Does your webshop fall under the European Accessibility Act?
The European Accessibility Act (EAA) is Directive (EU) 2019/882 of 17 April 2019. The Netherlands has incorporated this into the Implementation Act on Accessibility Requirements for Products and Services. The requirements have been in force since 28 June 2025.
Do you sell online to consumers via a website or app? Then this is an e-commerce service within the meaning of the directive. In the Netherlands, the rule is stated in article 6:230fb of the Civil Code.
Do you have fewer than 10 employees and is your annual turnover or balance sheet total not higher than 2 million euros? Then these requirements do not apply to your webshop.
For contracts concluded before 28 June 2025, a transitional rule applies until 28 June 2030 at the latest. Whether your webshop falls under a transitional rule depends on your situation.
Which standard is tested against?
The supervisory authority ACM currently tests against WCAG 2.1 level AA. The European standard EN 301 549 was updated in September 2026 and uses WCAG 2.2 level AA. This new version will only apply as an official benchmark once the European Commission has included it in the Official Journal.
Who supervises?
The Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) supervises. The ACM can impose a penalty payment or a fine. If you invoke an exception, for example, because adaptation is a disproportionate burden? Then you must report this to the ACM.
This explanation reflects the situation on 8 October 2026. Consider this as guidance. It is not legal advice. If you are unsure whether your webshop falls under the rules, consult a lawyer.
Sources: Directive (EU) 2019/882; Staatsblad 2024, 87 and 2024, 341; Civil Code articles 6:230fb and 6:230fc; ACM; W3C WCAG 2.2.
Accessibility Statement
What is an accessibility statement, and does your webshop need one?
An accessibility statement is a public document in which you describe how accessible your website is. Public sector bodies have been required to apply standard EN 301 549 and publish an accessibility statement according to a fixed model since 2018. This is stipulated in the Temporary Decree on Digital Accessibility for Government. The obligation applied from 23 September 2020 for all websites and from 23 June 2021 for apps. In practice, this means WCAG 2.1 level A and AA.
For a webshop, it’s different. You must explain on your website how your webshop complies with the accessibility requirements. This information must be easy to find, accessible itself, and also available verbally. The directive refers to your general terms and conditions or a similar document for this. The fixed model used by the government is not mandatory for webshops.
Practically: such an explanation is only as good as the test behind it. Without measurement, it’s a promise. With a measurement, with date and benchmark, you can defend it.
Contrast Mode and Large Fonts
What do contrast mode and large fonts do to your webshop?
Some visitors adjust their screen. In Windows, they choose a contrast theme, where the colours of a site are replaced by a few high-contrast colours, such as light text on black. Others increase the contrast or enlarge their browser’s default font. Visually impaired visitors often do this.
On a site not built for it, all sorts of things can go wrong. Text within a graphic can disappear or become unreadable. Icons and logos can become invisible. Text can run off the screen, requiring sideways scrolling. We saw this on our own page about SEO and GEO: 95 out of 134 texts in the graphics were unreadable until we adjusted them. In technical terms, the contrast theme is also called forced-colors.
How to test it yourself in four steps
- Enable a contrast theme in Windows.
- Open your webshop and view the homepage, a product page, and the shopping cart.
- Significantly enlarge your browser’s default font, for example, to 24 px.
- Look out for disappearing text, missing icons, and lines running off the screen.
Standard in every project
How we build accessibility into every project
It’s not an afterthought. It’s part of the project sequence, from design to delivery.
Design: scalable font sizes
Fonts are set in ‘rem’, a unit that scales with the font size the visitor has set in their browser. If someone increases their browser’s font size, the text on the entire page becomes larger.
Build: designed for contrast mode
Text within graphics appears as actual, selectable text on the page. The logo, icons, and graphics remain visible if the colours are replaced.
Delivery: measured
Every site we build from 1 October 2026 must have at least 95% of its text readable in contrast mode and with large fonts. We measure this upon delivery, and you will receive the results.
Only upon request: full WCAG
If you require more than readability, you can request full WCAG conformity, for a new webshop or as a project for an existing site that does not yet comply. We will first discuss what is currently wrong and what is needed to address it.
Frequently asked questions about digital accessibility
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