Website Accessibility for Small Business: WCAG, the ADA and the European Accessibility Act
Millions of people use a screen reader, a keyboard instead of a mouse, captions, or larger text. A website that ignores them turns customers away, and in a growing number of places it also carries legal risk. The good news is that most fixes are cheap when they are built in from the start.
By the ideas2pixels team
7 min read
01
What WCAG is and which level to aim for
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), published by the W3C, are the standard almost everyone points to. They are organised around four ideas: content must be perceivable, operable, understandable and robust. WCAG 2.2, released in 2023, is the current version, and level AA is the usual target for businesses.
02
What the law says, in short
In the United States the Americans with Disabilities Act is widely applied to websites, and accessibility lawsuits against businesses of all sizes are common. The law does not name a single technical standard for private sites, but courts and settlements routinely refer to WCAG.
In the European Union, the European Accessibility Act began to apply on 28 June 2025 to a range of products and services, including e-commerce, and member states have turned it into national law. Very small service businesses can be exempt, so the details depend on your size, sector and country. Check your national rules or ask a lawyer rather than relying on a blog post, including this one.
03
A practical checklist for your site
These checks catch a large share of common problems.
- Text has enough contrast against its background, at least 4.5 to 1 for normal text.
- Every image that carries meaning has a short text description (alt text).
- You can use the whole site with a keyboard alone, and you can always see where the focus is.
- Forms have visible labels, and error messages say what went wrong and how to fix it.
- Headings follow a logical order, and links say where they go rather than click here.
- Videos have captions, and nothing flashes rapidly.
- Text can be enlarged and the layout still works on a phone.
04
How to test and keep it up
Automated tools such as the WAVE extension or Lighthouse find some issues, but not all of them. Tab through your pages with the keyboard, zoom the text, and try a screen reader on your most important page. Publish an accessibility statement that says what you aim for and how to report a problem.
Accessibility is not a one-time job: new photos, forms and pages can reintroduce problems. We work towards WCAG 2.2 level AA on this site, and you can read more on our accessibility page.
Common questions
Is my small business required to have an accessible website?
It depends on where you operate and what you sell. In practice it is good business and increasingly expected, so treat WCAG 2.2 AA as the goal and take legal advice for your situation.
Do accessibility overlay widgets make a site compliant?
Overlays are widely criticised by accessibility specialists and do not replace fixing the underlying site. Build accessibility in instead.
Does accessibility help SEO?
Often, yes. Clear headings, descriptive links, alt text and fast, stable pages help search engines as well as people.
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