Germany accessibility law: BFSG explained

Who has to comply

B2C e-commerce, banking, e-books, transport ticketing, computers, smartphones, TVs, ATMs, payment terminals, and self-service kiosks. Microenterprises (<10 employees AND <€2M turnover) selling services are exempt.

Germany is the largest e-commerce market in the EU, which makes it the single most likely place for a non-EU seller to trip the BFSG. Under the country-of-consumption principle, a Shopify or Amazon storefront run from the US, UK or Asia is fully covered the moment it ships to a German consumer or prices in euros for a German address. German consumers are also unusually litigious about consumer rights, and Abmahnung (formal cease-and-desist) letters from competitors and consumer associations are a well-established enforcement channel that reaches foreign sellers through their German-facing checkout.

What the law actually requires

The technical baseline is WCAG 2.1 Level AA via EN 301 549 v3.2.1. EN 301 549 references WCAG 2.1 Level AA in full and adds a few requirements specific to mobile apps and documents. Beyond the technical bar, Germany requires the following operational items, which auditors check first because they are simple to verify:

• Conformance with EN 301 549 v3.2.1 (which references WCAG 2.1 Level AA) for digital services

• A public accessibility statement on every covered service

• Feedback mechanism for users to report accessibility issues

• Documented compliance — internal records of conformity, kept for 5 years

• Periodic re-evaluation when the service changes substantially

Penalties and how enforcement actually works

Up to €100,000 per infringement; market surveillance can also order products withdrawn from sale.

Germany does not have a single national regulator. The BFSG is enforced by the market surveillance authorities (Marktüberwachungsbehörden) of the 16 federal states, coordinated loosely through a joint federal body, so which office contacts you depends on where your German activity is concentrated. Enforcement is largely complaint- and sweep-driven rather than proactively technical in the first cycle: authorities react to consumer reports and can demand your conformity documentation, order remediation within a set period, and ultimately order a product or service withdrawn from the German market if you ignore them.

Public-sector obligations

Germany also has a separate public-sector law: BITV 2.0 (Barrierefreie-Informationstechnik-Verordnung) for federal and state public-sector websites and apps; in force since 2011, last updated 2019. It predates the EAA and remains in force for government and public-funded sites. Public bodies must publish a conformance statement and re-audit periodically.

Practical first steps for a Germany site

If you are starting now and want to land before enforcement, run an automated audit, fix the high-impact issues (contrast, labels, keyboard, focus), publish an accessibility statement, and set up a feedback inbox. That sequence covers 80% of what auditors look for in a first sweep.

• Run a baseline scan to know your current score

• Fix critical and serious issues in priority order — these are the ones cited in complaints

• Publish a public accessibility statement on a stable URL (Germany regulators expect this discoverable)

• Add a feedback channel and answer within the country-specified window

• Re-scan after every major release; track regressions