Germany''s BFSG accessibility law has been in force since June 2025. Since then, consumer-facing websites and mobile apps have had to meet accessibility requirements. A year later, many small and medium business websites still fall short. The likely shift in 2026 is that accessibility stops being a warning-only issue and becomes an operational compliance topic.
Who is actually affected?
In practice, almost every company that sells products or services to consumers online needs to take this seriously. The narrow exception is the smallest micro-businesses, but even they benefit commercially from accessible design because clearer interfaces convert better and exclude fewer users.
The law typically reaches:
- e-commerce websites and online shops
- booking and appointment systems
- financial and insurance interfaces
- mobility and passenger-service platforms
- digital media and subscription products
The most common failures
- Poor color contrast. Trend-driven styling often makes core text hard to read.
- Missing or useless alt text. If an image carries meaning, screen-reader users need a description.
- Broken keyboard navigation. Menus, overlays, and custom interactions often fail without a mouse.
Why this matters beyond fines
Accessibility is not just a legal checklist. It affects trust, conversion, and search visibility. Many of the basics, such as semantic HTML, clear heading structure, form labels, and sensible navigation, improve both usability and SEO at the same time.
What Berlin teams should do now
Treat accessibility as a product and infrastructure decision, not as a cosmetic add-on. Start with semantic markup, heading hierarchy, form labeling, contrast, alt text, and full keyboard usability. That is where the highest leverage sits, and it is far cheaper to fix systematically than page by page under pressure.