Is Your Online Store Exempt From the European Accessibility Act? The Micro-Enterprise Exemption Explained

Key facts

• The exemption is Article 4(5) of Directive (EU) 2019/882, and Article 3(23) defines who counts as a microenterprise.
• The limits are fewer than 10 persons and EUR 2 million annual turnover or balance sheet total.
• It is decided by the size of the enterprise, not by how simple your website is, and ownership by a larger group can change the count.
• The EAA follows the customer: it concerns services offered to consumers in the EU, wherever your business is registered.

What does the directive say about microenterprises?

The exemption sits in Directive (EU) 2019/882, the law behind the European Accessibility Act. Two passages matter:

Article 4(5): "Microenterprises providing services shall be exempt from complying with the accessibility requirements referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article."

Article 3(23): "'Microenterprise' means an enterprise which employs fewer than 10 persons and which has an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 2 million or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding EUR 2 million."

In plain terms: the exemption is for small services businesses, and it is decided by the size of the company, not by how simple your website is.

What are the three tests for the exemption?

1. You provide a service. E-commerce services have been covered since 28 June 2025. The directive defines them as services provided at a distance, through websites and mobile apps, at the individual request of a consumer with a view to concluding a consumer contract (Articles 2(2)(f) and 3(30)). A shop selling physical goods is an e-commerce service, so the services exemption is the one that matters to you.
2. You employ fewer than 10 persons. Ten is already over the line. Count carefully, and note that the limit applies to the whole enterprise, not to one website.
3. Your money stays under €2 million. Annual turnover orannual balance sheet total of €2 million or less. The Commission's general SME definition (Recommendation 2003/361/EC) words this as "and/or"; the directive's own definition says "or". Either way, ask a professional how your national law applies it.

One more trap: ownership. If you belong to a group, or another company holds a significant stake in yours (or you in theirs), the SME rules can require their headcount and figures to be added to yours. A small shop owned by a large company may not qualify.

Does the EAA apply if I do not sell to customers in the EU?

The EAA follows the customer, not the company: it concerns services offered to consumers in the EU. A shop that does not offer its services to consumers in the EU is not what these rules are aimed at, and a microenterprise can additionally be exempt on size. These are two separate questions, and the exemption above only matters once you do offer your shop to consumers in the EU.

The grey area is a non-EU shop that ships to the EU only occasionally or on request. How that is treated is decided by each member state, so ask a qualified professional in the market you sell to rather than relying on this page.

Which businesses are exempt? Worked examples

Illustrative examples only, applying the directive's wording. They are not legal advice and do not account for national rules.

What does the exemption not cover?

• It does not follow you as you grow. The exemption depends on your size. Once you pass the limits, the service requirements apply, so it is cheaper to build accessible habits before then.
• It is not the same as "disproportionate burden". Article 14 lets a business of any size argue that a requirement would be a disproportionate burden or a fundamental alteration, but only with a documented assessment against Annex VI.
• It does not change who your customers are. Roughly 1 in 4 EU adults have some form of disability. A shop they cannot use loses that sale whether or not the law requires you to fix it.
• It is set and enforced nationally. Each EU member state has its own law and authority. Check the markets you sell to.

Should I check my shop's accessibility even if I am exempt?

Yes, because the most common failures on small shops are cheap to fix: text that is too light, icon links with no name, images with no alt text. Across our three scans of small independent shops (108 shops: skincare and soap, candles and small-batch food), only 2 scored a perfect 100. Fixing them helps shoppers who use screen readers or magnifiers, and the same changes (descriptive alt text, readable contrast, labelled fields) tend to help search engines too.

If you are not exempt, our EAA guide for online stores explains what to do, and the Shopify accessibility checklist shows where each fix lives.

FAQ