Three quarters of the largest German shops are not barrier-free

From June 2025, private sector providers of digital products and services in Germany will be legally obliged to make their online offerings barrier-free. This is stated in the Barrier-Free Act, the implementation of the European Accessibility Act in Germany.  

In this context, Aktion Mensch and Google, in collaboration with the Pfennigparade Foundation and the consulting agency BITV-Consult, carried out a test to check the accessibility of the 78 most visited online shops in Germany. 

The test, which was carried out with expert advice from the Federal Monitoring Agency for Accessibility of Information Technology (BFIT-Bund), covers the eight most important test criteria of the guidelines for accessible web content (WCAG 2.1). The seven test experts included people with various physical, cognitive or sensory disabilities. 

The result of the test shows how much action companies still need to take by 2025: 75 percent of the shops examined were not barrier-free. Lack of keyboard usability was the most common barrier.  In addition, testers with visual impairments were faced with the challenge of a lack of contrast color on many of the websites.

More information and test results (in German).