Is your online store breaking Irish law?
The rules for stores at a glance
- In force
- 28 June 2025
- Standard
- WCAG 2.1 AA (EN 301 549)
- Law
- S.I. 636/2023 — Directive (EU) 2019/882
- Penalty
- up to €60,000 or 18 months (criminal)
- Mandatory
- a public accessibility statement
- Exemption
- microenterprises (under 10 staff AND under €2M turnover)
What must an accessible online store meet?
Your store must meet WCAG 2.1 AA — around 50 testable criteria: full keyboard operability with a visible focus, sufficient colour contrast, alt text, correctly labelled form fields, and a screen-reader-usable navigation. The checkout and payment flow are the most critical pages.
What does a breach cost?
Ireland is the only EU state where serious non-compliance is a criminal offence — up to €60,000 or 18 months on indictment, with directors personally liable. A dated evidence trail is your defence. Accessibility fines →
Does it apply to small stores?
Only true microenterprises are exempt — under 10 staff and under €2M turnover. Both must be true, so most commercial stores are covered.
How do you make your store provably accessible?
Test your checkout against WCAG 2.1 AA, fix the violations, publish your accessibility statement, and keep a dated record proving conformity. keepcite audits, fixes and documents. Start with the free scan below.
Are you compliant?
FreeYour store, scanned against the law’s standard.
FAQ
Is an accessible theme enough?
No. A theme is a base, but your content, plugins, customisations and the checkout decide real conformity. What’s audited is the code you actually ship.
What about the checkout?
It’s the highest-risk page and the first thing an audit drives with a keyboard and screen reader. A store can look fine and still be impossible to buy from.
Do I need an accessibility statement?
Yes, a public accessibility statement is mandatory — conformance status, known limitations and a way to report barriers, matching reality.
How fast must I act?
The obligation has applied since 28 June 2025, and Ireland’s liability is criminal — a dated record that begins before any complaint is the strongest protection.