Should Website Builders be forced to comply with The Europeans Accessibility Act?
In June 2025, the European Accessibility Act (EAA) officially came into force.
For many of us working in, or interested in accessibility, it felt like a big moment, and a sign that finally real measures were coming in, to make digital products more accessible.
But over the last year, I've had numerous conversations about one area that doesn't get talked about nearly enough.
Do these laws go far enough when it comes to website builders?
Now, the obvious argument to that is that most website builders are US companies - not European. So let's look back at what the EAA outlines - and why website builders need to step up.
Who the EAA applies to
The European Accessibility Act applies to businesses that sell certain products or services within the EU market.
That includes things like:
- E-commerce websites
- Banking services
- Transport booking systems
- Telecommunications
- Digital products and services sold online
But importantly, it doesn't just apply to companies based in the EU.
If any business sells products or services to customers in the EU, then the law can still apply to you. So a company in the UK, US, or anywhere else in the world could still fall under these rules, if EU customers can use their services.
I say "could", because there are exemptions.
For example, micro businesses. Which is typically any business with fewer than 10 employees, and turning over less than £2 million per year.
But for anyone outside of those rules - it's something you need to look out for.
Because the EAA has specifically been designed to make sure that digital services that are used by millions of people, are accessible to everyone regardless of age, technical skills, or any disabilities.
And that's a really good thing.
Early Lawsuits we've started to see
Like most laws that will affect corporations, the first lawsuits we tend to see are targets against big names.
In France, several supermarket chains were taken to court by disability advocacy groups, because their online shop wasn't accessible to screen reader users.
In Spain, an airline was also fined for accessibility failures on their website.
Now, whilst these cases aren't going to concern most people reading this blog post - I'd like you to take one message away.
That accessibility is not a "nice to have".
It's a legal requirement, and we're finally starting to see it as an expectation for businesses.
But here is where I get pretty annoyed, at the website builders who market themselves specifically to small businesses.
The reality for small business owners
Most small business owners don't hire a web designer when they start out (I get it, we're expensive). Most founders are starting off with a website builder. Platforms like:
- Go High Level
- Squarespace
- Wix
- Kajabi
What's brilliant about these, is it makes it not only possible, but easy for someone to launch their business over a weekend. And I love that. But these platforms rarely meet basic accessibility requirements, and therefore make it almost impossible for small business owners, to launch an accessible website.
Common issues include:
- poor colour contrast (and lack of guides to help the business owner correct this)
- missing form labels
- lack focus states
- inaccessible footer structure
These things aren't happening because the business owner doesn't care.
It happens because they don't know that these affect the user experience of their website.
Because the developers behind these website builders, don't make accessibility the default.
Bringing it back to the EAA
Website builders operate in the EU market too.
And that's what interests me from a legal standpoint.
The EAA states that companies selling digital products or services to EU markets must comply with accessibility requirements.
And website builders absolutely do sell to the EU market.
They market themselves to European businesses.
They host websites for EU customers.
They process payments from EU users.
And they power websites for businesses around the world - many of whom will also sell to EU consumers.
So my question is, shouldn't these platforms be doing far more to help their users build accessible websites by default?
Instead of quietly avoiding the topic, and leaving their customers to figure out their accessibility issues on their own?
Accessibility shouldn't require specialist knowledge
And yes, that potentially puts me out of a job.
But right now, to ensure your business is accessible you need:
- technical knowledge
- accessibility training
- manual testing
- and likely hiring a specialist (like me!)
Which is fine if you have the budget.
But most small businesses don't - hence their use of website builders in the first place.
If we agree that accessibility should be the norm (because why shouldn't it?), then the tools people rely on to build, and market their business, needs to make accessibility the default.
Not an advanced feature.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Do you think website builders should be responsible for making accessibility easier by default? Or should the responsibility sit entirely with the business owner?