WordPress Accessibility

The BFSG makes accessibility mandatory

The Accessibility Strengthening Act has been in force since June 2025 and obliges a large share of commercially used websites and online shops to be accessible per WCAG 2.1 level AA. Affected above all are companies with digital products and services in the B2C space. Violations threaten not only legal warnings but fines too. We're happy to advise you on whether and to what extent the BFSG applies to your website.

Accessibility affects considerably more people than many assume, from visual impairments via motor limitations to situational hurdles like poor light or a broken trackpad. In the end, an accessible website is easier to use for all visitors.

Does the BFSG apply to your company too?

There's an exemption for micro-enterprises: if you employ fewer than ten people and your annual turnover or balance sheet total is at most two million euros, as a pure service provider you're generally not obliged to be accessible. If, however, you place products on the market yourself, this exemption no longer applies. The concrete classification is often not entirely clear-cut. We're happy to look at your company and your website together with you.

Where WordPress sites typically violate accessibility

WordPress itself brings a decent technical basis — the actual problems mostly arise through page builders, themes and plugins optimised for visual design rather than clean, semantic markup.

Common violations we find in audits

• Page builder output made of nested div containers instead of real heading and list structures
• Missing or meaningless alt texts on images
• Insufficient colour contrast between text and background in the theme
• Sliders and carousels that can't be operated by keyboard
• Forms without linked labels or understandable error messages
• PDF documents without tagging for screen readers

Contrast quickly becomes concretely measurable: WCAG level AA demands a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 between text and background; for the stricter AAA level it's 7:1. Many theme designs with light grey text on a white background sit well below that without it standing out at first glance.

How we make WordPress sites accessible

We combine automated checking tools with manual tests, including keyboard operation and a screen reader. Automated scanners simply don't capture a relevant share of the WCAG criteria. The audit yields a prioritised list of concrete measures instead of an abstract points list.

What belongs to our implementation

• Semantic HTML markup instead of pure page builder divs
• Colour contrasts reliably meeting WCAG AA values
• Keyboard operability for interactive elements such as sliders, menus and forms
• Skip links and ARIA attributes where semantic HTML alone doesn't suffice
• Consistent alt text maintenance for new and existing images
• Ongoing monitoring so new content doesn't undermine the accessibility again

Related topics

WordPress maintenance & security

Accessibility isn't a one-off project but part of your website's ongoing care. More on WordPress maintenance & security.

WordPress SEO

Clean, semantic markup helps not just screen readers but search engines too. More on WordPress SEO.