Accessibility: Does my website even need it as a B2B company? An honest check

You only sell to businesses. Do you still have to make your website accessible? The short answer: legally, often not. The long answer is still worth reading.

Since 28 June 2025, the Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz (BFSG – Germany's Accessibility Strengthening Act) has applied in Germany. It implements an EU directive, the European Accessibility Act, which exists in similar form in all EU countries. Since then, lots of emails with an urgent undertone have been doing the rounds. Time for a calm look.

Who the law applies to

The BFSG covers certain products and services for consumers. For websites, this mainly means “e-commerce services”: offerings through which consumers conclude a contract online – online shops, booking portals, banking services and the like.

Under the law, consumers are natural persons who mainly don't buy for their trade or profession. It follows that if you exclusively target businesses, your offering generally doesn't fall under the BFSG. That's also how the chambers of industry and commerce read it: what's covered is services for consumers.

The exception for micro-enterprises

Anyone who provides services and has fewer than ten employees and no more than two million euros in annual turnover or annual balance sheet total counts as a micro-enterprise and is exempt from the obligations for services. Note: this exemption doesn't apply to products, such as devices.

Careful with “B2B, but …”

In practice, the line isn't always sharp. A few typical cases:

• Your shop sells “to businesses only”, but anyone can order without being checked. Then consumers are effectively buying too – and the distinction gets shaky.
• Alongside the B2B business there's a small area for private customers, such as vouchers or courses.
• You're a club, a practice or an organisation that concludes contracts with private individuals online.

In such cases it's worth taking a close look, ideally with someone who knows the law. In Germany, violations can be punished with fines of up to 100.000 euros, and competitors or associations can send cease-and-desist letters. For contracts and products in use that already existed before 28 June 2025, transition periods apply until mid-2030.

Why it's still worth it

Accessibility isn't a consumer issue, it's a people issue. Purchasing departments, law firms and practices also have people with poor eyesight, colour blindness, shaky hands or a screen reader. And anyone who works with just a keyboard or orders on their phone on the train benefits just as much. Whatever is accessible is usually simply well made.

Then there's search. Clear headings, real text instead of text in images, described images and a clean structure help screen readers – and search engines and AI assistants just as much. More on this in Getting found when AI answers.

What “accessible” means technically

The law describes requirements; the technology behind them is regulated internationally. In practice, most people follow the WCAG web guidelines at level AA. Behind them are four simple ideas: content must be perceivable (e.g. text for images), operable (even without a mouse), understandable (clear language, comprehensible error messages) and robust (clean code that assistive tools can read too).

Those affected also publish an accessibility statement: what has been implemented, what hasn't yet, and how can barriers be reported? That sounds like paperwork, but it's actually a promise in plain language – and a good reason to look at your own website through different eyes.

Where you'll reach the most

Most barriers on company websites are classics: too little contrast between text and background, images without descriptions, menus that only open with a mouse, form fields without visible labels, and headings that are just paragraphs in bold. Each of these little things is quickly fixed – and together they make a big difference. By the way, this website is itself built to be low-barrier; what we do for that and where we're still working on it is set out in our accessibility statement.

The Accessibility Monster does the BFSG check with you and shows what really matters for your website – honestly, even if the answer is “You're not affected”. The Website Monster can then put it into practice.

Note: This article gives a general overview (as of: 23.09.2026) and is not legal advice. For your individual case, please ask a lawyer.