Web accessibility is the practice of making websites usable by everyone, including people with disabilities. In 2026, with more than 1.3 billion people living with a disability worldwide (16% of the global population), ignoring accessibility means excluding one person in six from your potential customer base. In Europe, the European Accessibility Act, which came into force in June 2025, now extends the legal obligations to private websites.
That figure hides an even broader reality: beyond permanent disability (blindness, deafness, reduced mobility), 1 person in 3 is at some point in a temporary or situational difficulty, a broken arm, sun glare, the sound turned off on public transport. An accessible site does not only meet the needs of a minority: it improves the experience of most of your visitors.
What is WCAG 2.2 and what are the legal obligations in France and Europe?
WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) is the international web accessibility standard published by the W3C. It defines technical criteria across 3 levels of conformance:
WCAG 2.2 rests on 4 broad principles: Perceivable (information presentable to every sense), Operable (an interface usable through different modes of interaction), Understandable (clear content and behaviour) and Robust (content that assistive technology such as screen readers can interpret).
Legal obligations in France and Europe:
Which accessibility criteria should you implement first on your site?
Here are the WCAG 2.2 level AA points with the greatest impact, grouped by category:
Structure and semantics
Images and media
Navigation
Contrast and colour
Forms
Free tools for testing your site's accessibility:
| Tool | Type | What it detects |
|---|---|---|
| axe DevTools | Chrome and Firefox extension | Automatic WCAG errors |
| WAVE | Browser extension | Errors plus visual warnings |
| Lighthouse | Built into Chrome DevTools | Accessibility and SEO score |
| Colour Contrast Analyser | Desktop application | Exact contrast ratio |
| NVDA (Windows) / VoiceOver (Mac) | Screen reader | A real test in disability conditions |
Important: automated tools only catch around 30% of accessibility problems. Always add manual keyboard navigation, a screen reader test and a check at 200% zoom.
Why does web accessibility improve SEO and conversion for every user?
Making your site accessible is not only a legal constraint, it is a measurable competitive advantage for your business. It is the curb cut effect: adjustments designed for disabled people end up benefiting everyone.
A concrete example: video subtitles, created for deaf and hard of hearing viewers, are used by 85% of people who watch videos with the sound off (on public transport, in open-plan offices, and so on). Accessibility always widens the audience that benefits well beyond disabled users.
5 measurable business benefits of accessibility:
An action plan for making your site accessible, in 4 phases:
Get a free assessment of your site's accessibility and design →
3 things you can do today to improve your site's accessibility
You do not need a full audit to get started. These 3 actions take less than an hour and cover the most common errors:
Action 1, check your contrast (15 minutes)
Install the Colour Contrast Analyser extension (free). Check your main text colour against a white background: the ratio must be 4,5:1 or higher. If your site uses light grey text (#999 on white is a ratio of 2,85:1, non-compliant), move it towards a darker grey (#767676 gives 4,48:1, just about acceptable).
Action 2, add the missing alternative text (20 minutes)
In your CMS, work through the 10 most important images on your site. Every image that carries information needs a descriptive alt attribute. For example: alt="Bathroom renovation before and after, client in Rueil-Malmaison" rather than alt="photo1" or an empty alt="" on an informative image.
Action 3, test keyboard navigation (10 minutes)
Open your site, unplug the mouse and navigate using the Tab key alone. Can you reach every link, button and form field? Is the focus indicator (the blue or coloured outline marking the active element) always visible? If you lose track at any point, you have found a blocking problem.
These 3 checks will not make your site fully WCAG 2.2 compliant, but they do remove the most damaging errors, the ones that stop people reaching your content altogether.
Frequently asked questions about WCAG web accessibility
Does my site have to be accessible if I am a small business?
The strict legal obligation in France applies to public bodies and large companies (turnover above 250M€). For small businesses it is not yet compulsory, but the European Accessibility Act is widening the scope step by step. Beyond the law, it is an immediate commercial advantage: an accessible site ranks better on Google, can be used by more customers and is seen as more serious and more inclusive.
Are accessibility overlays (widgets such as AccessiBe) a good solution?
No. Overlays that add an accessibility widget on top of the page (an "accessibility mode" button) are overwhelmingly rejected by the disability community and by WCAG experts. They do not fix the underlying problems in the HTML and CSS, they can interfere with screen readers people already use, and they create a false impression of compliance. The only effective approach is to fix accessibility at source, in the code.
Is my WordPress site accessible automatically?
No. The theme and every plugin have to be specifically chosen and configured for accessibility. Many popular themes (Divi, Avada, Elementor out of the box) have significant accessibility problems. Test with axe DevTools or WAVE and you will be surprised by the number of errors on a standard, unoptimised WordPress site. Favour WCAG-certified themes such as GeneratePress or Blocksy.
What does it cost to bring an existing site into accessibility compliance?
For a 5 to 10 page brochure site with moderate accessibility problems: between 500 and 2 000€ of fixes. For a more complex e-commerce site: 2 000 to 8 000€. Getting it right while the site is being built costs on average 20 to 30% less than fixing it afterwards. At ConvertiLab, WCAG 2.2 level AA accessibility is built into every site from the design stage.
Which sectors face the greatest legal risk over accessibility?
The sectors most exposed to complaints and legal action are: e-commerce (purchases impossible by keyboard counts as discrimination), banking and insurance (online financial services), healthcare (inaccessible appointment booking), online learning (video content with no subtitles) and hospitality (inaccessible booking). In France, the CNIL and the Défenseur des droits can both be called on in cases of digital discrimination.
