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Accessible Shopware - compliant with the BFSG

The German Accessibility Strengthening Act (BFSG) has been in force since 28 June 2025 and turns the European Accessibility Act into German law. We audit your shop, put the measures in order of priority and implement them in the code.

Request an accessibility check View references

The frame

Mandatory since
28 June 2025
Benchmark
WCAG 2.1 AA / EN 301 549
Scope
the whole purchase path
Evidence
accessibility statement

What the BFSG means

Five points that decide it for shops

The law covers services in electronic commerce - for an online shop that means the complete ordering path.

Note: this overview is for orientation and does not replace legal advice.

  1. 01

    Mandatory since 28 June 2025

    Newly provided services have to meet the requirements - with no transition period for new offerings.

  2. 02

    Exemption for micro-enterprises

    With fewer than 10 employees and at most 2 million euros of annual turnover the service obligation does not apply - the individual case still has to be checked.

  3. 03

    Benchmark WCAG 2.1 AA / EN 301 549

    The harmonised European standard points at WCAG 2.1 level AA. That is the testable reference.

  4. 04

    The whole purchase path including checkout

    Search, listing, detail page, basket, registration, payment and confirmation - not only the home page.

  5. 05

    Accessibility statement

    The state reached, the known limitations and a feedback channel for users are documented in public.

The risk of not complying

Authorities, warning letters, lost customers

  • Official inspection

    Market surveillance can record defects, demand remediation and impose fines.

  • Complaints and warning letters

    Associations and affected people can assert violations. The work then happens under time pressure.

  • Drop-offs in the checkout

    Whoever cannot operate a form does not buy. Accessibility is a conversion question too.

What we do

From the audit to the statement

  • Audit

    Testing the purchase path against WCAG 2.1 AA - automated and by hand, including keyboard and screen reader tests.

  • Work in the theme

    Semantics, focus order, contrast and labelling, directly in Twig, SCSS and JavaScript.

  • Accessible checkout

    Forms, error messages and payment steps built to work without a mouse and with assistive technology.

  • Accessibility statement

    Documenting the state reached, the open points and the feedback channel -cut to your situation.

  • Training

    Editors and developers learn how new content and features stay accessible.

Where we stand

Accessibility belongs in the code, not in an overlay tool. A script laid over the shop does not fix the causes.

Overlays only take effect in the browser and change nothing about missing semantics, a wrong focus order or unlabelled form fields. We correct the cause in the theme and in the extensions - testable against WCAG 2.1 AA and maintainable for good.

How it runs

Four steps to compliance

  1. 01

    Audit

    A findings report with the violations in order of priority and the templates they sit in.

  2. 02

    Plan of measures

    Effort, order and responsibilities - agreed with your team.

  3. 03

    Implementation

    Corrections in theme, plugins and checkout, stage by stage on a test environment.

  4. 04

    Retest & statement

    A second test, documentation of the state and the accessibility statement.

FAQ

Frequent questions

For the legal assessment of your own case please talk to your legal counsel - on the technical side we advise you gladly.

Does the BFSG apply to my shop too?
The BFSG applies to services in electronic commerce offered to consumers. Micro-enterprises with fewer than 10 employees and at most 2 million euros of annual turnover are exempt from the service obligation. Whether the exemption applies in your case is a legal question - technically we check where your shop stands regardless.
Is an accessibility overlay enough?
No. Overlays only take effect in the browser and change nothing about missing semantics, a wrong focus order or unlabelled form fields. For testable compliance with WCAG 2.1 AA the causes have to be corrected in the theme and in the extensions.
How long do the audit and the work take?
An audit of the purchase path usually delivers a findings report within one to two weeks. The effort for the work depends on the state of the theme: standard themes with few changes reach compliance faster than heavily customised storefronts. After the audit you get a solid estimate.
Do our plugins stay updatable after the work?
Yes. We work through theme and plugin extensions of our own rather than through changes to the core or to third-party plugin code. Shopware updates and updates of the extensions in use stay possible.

Where does your shop stand today?

The accessibility check shows within a few days which points are critical and what the work realistically costs.

Request an accessibility check View references

or straight to us: info@premsoft.de