Noibu blog

Is Your Online Store at Risk of an Accessibility Lawsuit?

Megan Glover

October 30, 2026

Blogs

Online stores face real accessibility lawsuit risk. Most US website accessibility filings target ecommerce, and the European Accessibility Act now covers stores that sell to EU shoppers, wherever they are based. Check your key pages and checkout against WCAG, address purchase blockers first, and keep records. This is not legal advice.

TL;DR

Ecommerce sites account for most US website accessibility filings, and smaller companies are frequent targets.
The European Accessibility Act has applied since June 28, 2025 and covers stores that sell to EU consumers, wherever the store is based.
Enforcement so far is mostly complaint-driven, with courts in France ordering changes to major retailers in 2026.
Check key pages and checkout against WCAG, start with purchase blockers, and keep dated records. This is not legal advice.

If you run an online store, accessibility risk comes from two directions: US lawsuits under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and European rules that now reach stores outside Europe. This guide explains what drives both and what a store can check first. It is general information, not legal advice, so talk to qualified counsel about your situation.

Is my ecommerce site at risk of an ADA accessibility lawsuit?

The numbers point to ecommerce as the main target. TestParty's 2026 summary of UsableNet and Seyfarth Shaw tracking reports about 2,014 federal website accessibility filings in the first half of 2025, up 37% on the first half of 2024, with roughly 69% to 77% of filings aimed at ecommerce sites. The same summary reports that most 2024 suits named companies with under $25 million in annual revenue. These are secondhand figures from trackers, so treat them as directional.

The practical reading is that store size does not protect you. Complaints tend to point to specific barriers a shopper met while trying to buy: unlabeled form fields, keyboard traps, buttons with no accessible name, and error messages a screen reader never announces.

What does the European Accessibility Act mean for US retailers?

The European Accessibility Act, or EAA, has applied since June 28, 2025. It covers ecommerce services provided to consumers in the EU, and applicability depends on where your customers are, not where you are incorporated. A US store with euro pricing, EU shipping or EU-targeted ads can fall in scope. The technical benchmark, EN 301 549, largely maps to WCAG 2.1 AA for websites. Service microenterprises with fewer than 10 employees and no more than 2 million euros in turnover are exempt, and turnover is measured company-wide.

Two routes to accessibility risk

US lawsuits

Filed in federal court under the ADA
Most filings target ecommerce sites
Complaints point to specific barriers in the buying flow

European Accessibility Act

Applies since June 28, 2025
Covers stores that sell to EU consumers
Enforced by national authorities, largely complaint-driven

Both routes start with the same question: can every shopper complete a purchase?

How is the EAA being enforced?

Reports describe enforcement as complaint-driven and corrective first, with penalties escalating for continued problems. PinMeTo reports that the Lille court ruled for Auchan on May 5, 2026 on procedural grounds, with an appeal pending, and that a Caen court ordered Carrefour France in June 2026 to make its online shop and app accessible within six months or face a daily penalty. TestParty also reports that no confirmed monetary EAA fine had been recorded as of mid-2026, and notes the Netherlands and Sweden have opened enforcement programs. Details vary by member state, so check current rules for the countries you sell into.

What should an online store check first?

Start where an order can be blocked. Test your home, collection, product, cart and checkout pages by keyboard and with a screen reader, and run an automated WCAG scan on each. Prioritize unlabeled checkout fields, keyboard traps in the cart, buttons with no accessible name, and error messages that are not announced. Record what you found, when, and what you changed. Our guides to which accessibility issues an online store should fix first, running a website accessibility audit on your online store and finding accessibility issues on a Shopify store cover the steps.

A first accessibility check for an online store

STEP 1

Scope

List home, collection, product, cart and checkout pages.

STEP 2

Scan

Run an automated WCAG scan on each page.

STEP 3

Test by hand

Tab through each page and spot-check with a screen reader.

STEP 4

Rank

Put purchase blockers first, such as unlabeled fields and keyboard traps.

STEP 5

Record

Keep dated notes of findings and changes, then re-test.

Automated scans miss real problems, so manual testing stays part of the process.

How does Noibu's ADA agent help?

Noibu's ADA agent audits your highest-traffic pages against WCAG, reports the shortfalls it finds ranked by the pages and shoppers affected, and stages proposed changes for a person to review. After approved changes go live, it re-audits the pages to confirm the issues are resolved. It works in the Noibu console and in AI tools such as Claude, and nothing ships without your approval. It does not replace manual testing or legal advice. Read more about Noibu's ADA agent or visit the ADA agent page.

The short version: what should you do now?

Reducing accessibility risk on a store

Treat checkout and product pages as the first priority.
Scan with WCAG tools, then test by keyboard and screen reader.
Address purchase blockers before cosmetic issues.
If you sell to EU shoppers, check the EAA and your country-level rules.
Keep dated records and talk to counsel about your exposure.

To audit your own store, start with Noibu's free website audit.

Noibu is AI for ecommerce operations, the always-on optimization system that keeps online stores running at their best. A team of supervised AI agents finds what's broken, slow, or leaking revenue, does the work, and hands results back for human approval. Trusted by retailers like Free People, Guess, Liquid I.V., and Ariat.

Frequently asked questions

Is my ecommerce site at risk of an ADA accessibility lawsuit?

Possibly. Trackers report that most US website accessibility filings target ecommerce sites, and smaller companies are frequent targets. Risk centers on barriers in the buying flow, such as unlabeled fields and keyboard traps. This is general information, not legal advice.

Does the European Accessibility Act apply to a US online store?

It can. The EAA applies to ecommerce services provided to consumers in the EU, regardless of where the company is based. Service microenterprises with fewer than 10 employees and no more than 2 million euros in turnover are exempt. Check with counsel for your situation.

What accessibility standard should an online store follow?

WCAG is the common benchmark. For websites, the European standard EN 301 549 largely maps to WCAG 2.1 AA, so testing against WCAG 2.1 AA is a sensible baseline for stores that sell in the EU or the US.

What should I check first on my store?

Start with purchase blockers on home, collection, product, cart and checkout pages: unlabeled form fields, keyboard traps, buttons with no accessible name and error messages a screen reader never announces.

What does Noibu's ADA agent do?

It audits high-traffic pages against WCAG, reports shortfalls ranked by the pages and shoppers affected, and stages proposed changes for a person to review. After approved changes go live it re-audits the pages. Manual testing and legal advice are still needed.