A shopkeeper reaches out to us, a little worried: "I've heard about a European law on website accessibility that came into force in 2025. Is my site breaking the law? Am I going to have to redo everything?"
The fear is widespread, and here's the answer, plainly: no, the vast majority of small businesses aren't legally required to. But making your site accessible is still an excellent idea, because it concerns far more customers than you'd imagine, and the fixes are often simple. Let's take stock, calmly.
What it is, and who it really concerns
Web accessibility means making sure the same site stays usable by everyone, including people with disabilities (sight, hearing, mobility, cognitive difficulties).
But to reduce the subject to disability would be a mistake. According to the DREES, in 2022, around 28% of French adults, or 14.5 million people, report a functional limitation. And beyond that, accessibility helps everyone in everyday situations: a senior whose sight is fading, someone reading their phone in bright sunlight, a person with an arm in a cast, or simply tired eyes at the end of the day.
In other words, an accessible site isn't a site "for disabled people", it's a robust site, one that stays usable in all conditions. And a site that's hard to read or to fill in means a share of your customers give up.
Are you legally required? The honest answer
It's the question that worries people, so let's be precise, without the drama.
Those genuinely required to provide digital accessibility are:
- the public sector (the State, local authorities, public bodies), via the RGAA;
- large private companies whose turnover in France exceeds around 250 million euros;
- since 28 June 2025, businesses providing certain services covered by the European directive (the European Accessibility Act): consumer e-commerce, banking, transport, audiovisual, digital books.
But, and this is the decisive point for you, this directive exempts micro-enterprises providing services, defined as fewer than 10 employees and less than 2 million euros in turnover. In practice: a small online store below these thresholds isn't formally required to comply; nor is a showcase site for a tradesperson or a freelancer.
The distinction matters: if you run an e-commerce business and you exceed 10 employees or 2 million euros, you're now covered. For the vast majority of small businesses, on the other hand, there's no obligation as things stand, but a strong recommendation, along the same lines as GDPR for your site: anticipating, and above all serving your customers better. Because the European trend is clearly heading towards a broadening of these requirements.
For those that are covered, the stakes aren't merely symbolic: an administrative fine can reach 50,000 euros per online service, renewable if the site isn't brought into compliance. That's why knowing precisely which side of the line you're on matters. And it's also why an honest warning is needed: this article sheds light on the subject, but it doesn't replace legal advice. If you sell online, or if your business touches on one of the services listed above, the details of your case (selling products or services, exact thresholds) can tip the answer. At the slightest doubt, have it confirmed by a legal professional before concluding that you're in the clear.
Why do it anyway: your customers and your SEO
Required or not, accessibility is a smart move for a small business.
More customers. Closing the door on a large share of the population (limitations affect nearly one adult in three, not counting seniors and temporary situations) means losing sales for nothing. A clear form, readable text, a simple booking on mobile: these are enquiries that go through instead of being abandoned.
Better SEO. Google doesn't have an "accessibility score", but good practices largely overlap: a clear heading structure, described images, explicit links, a fast, well-organised site. Working on your accessibility means, by extension, looking after what Google rewards.
And the competition is easy to get ahead of: according to the benchmark WebAIM Million study, 95.9% of the home pages analysed have at least one detectable accessibility error. The good news is that five families of errors (contrast, images with no description, fields with no label, empty links and buttons, the page's language) account for almost all the problems: fixing a few of them already puts you ahead of the vast majority of sites. This is exactly what Pixel Prisme builds in by default on the sites it builds: a legible, well-structured site, for your customers and for the search engines.
The concrete (and doable) basics for a small business
No need to become an expert. Here are the most useful fixes, in order of impact, that sort out the essentials.
Text contrast. This is mistake number one. Light grey on white is illegible in sunlight or for tired eyes. Aim for enough contrast (the standard recommends a ratio of at least 4.5:1 for body text, checkable with a free tool) and avoid text placed on a busy photo.
Alt text for images. Every image that carries information should have a short description (the "alt" attribute), read by the software of visually impaired people and understood by Google. Describe what's useful ("traditional baguette fresh from the oven") rather than "image1".
Keyboard navigation. Some people don't use a mouse. Check that the whole site can be navigated with the Tab key, and that the selected element is clearly visible (a distinct outline).
Readable text and clear headings. A comfortable font size (around 16px for body text), space between lines, and a heading hierarchy in order (one main heading, then subheadings) help everyone find their way.
Labelled forms, and no information conveyed by colour alone. Every field has a clear label; errors are flagged with a text message ("required field"), not just with red, which a colour-blind person can't read.
These adjustments impose no "ugly" style: legible type and good contrast even make a design look more polished. And you don't have to do it all at once: start with your key pages (home, contact, booking), then extend. This is the approach Pixel Prisme applies on every site delivered: basic accessibility is built into the construction, not added afterwards.
The traps: "it's ugly, it's expensive" and magic band-aids
Two misconceptions, and one false solution to avoid.
"It's ugly, it's expensive." Wrong on both counts. Accessibility sets minimum standards of legibility, not an imposed style; and most of the gains come from simple adjustments (contrast, text, structure), especially if they're planned from the design stage. Fixing after the fact costs more than building well from the start, exactly as with performance or security.
"It only concerns blind people." Also wrong: as we've seen, it's millions of people, plus all the mobile and age-related uses. For a local business with an often older clientele, it's actually a real competitive advantage.
The false solution: "overlays". These are the modules you add to make a site "compliant" via a magic button. Experts and those most affected criticise them sharply: they don't fix the code and sometimes get in the way more. In 2025, the US competition regulator penalised a major overlay vendor for misleading advertising. The lesson: real accessibility happens in the content and the code, not with a band-aid fix. That's why Pixel Prisme deals with it at source, in the construction of the site, rather than with a gadget.
To check where you stand, free tools like WAVE or Lighthouse give a first diagnosis in seconds; add a keyboard test and the opinion of someone close to you who isn't comfortable with the web.
In short
Web accessibility means making your site usable by everyone: people with disabilities, but also seniors and everyday uses, that is a large share of your customer base. On the legal side, most small businesses aren't required to (the obligation targets the public sector, large companies and certain private services above the thresholds, with an exemption for micro-enterprises), but if you sell online, check your case. Beyond the law, it's a good deal: more customers, better SEO, and a head start when 96% of sites still fail. The fixes are simple and gradual: contrast, image descriptions, keyboard navigation, clear headings, labelled forms, mobile. And above all, no miracle band-aid: accessibility is built in, it isn't added as a button.
At Pixel Prisme, it's a normal component of quality, on a par with speed or security: we deliver businesses in Toulouse and beyond sites that are accessible by design. To take stock of yours, jargon-free, let's talk for 30 minutes, no strings attached.