EU accessibility fines remain rare as Dutch checkout failures mount

A review by Peculiar Systems found only four public fines for the European Accessibility Act across the EU in the first 15 months, all in Czechia and all tied partly to a missing accessibility paragraph in shop terms. The report says Dutch testers could not complete orders at 61% of large webshops, underscoring a gap between compliance paperwork and real checkout access.

Why it matters: - The European Accessibility Act now applies to online shops across the EU, but public enforcement is still thin. - The gap between written compliance and usable checkout flows matters because customers rely on keyboard and screen-reader access to finish purchases. - The review suggests regulators are punishing documentation issues before they reach the checkout experience that shoppers actually face.

What happened: - Peculiar Systems reviewed what authorities in all 27 EU member states have published since the European Accessibility Act began to cover online shops on 28 June 2025. - The studio found four public fines in the EU during the first 15 months of the law. - All four fines were in Czechia. - The combined amount was CZK 14,000, or about €580. - The cases carry register numbers 261072, 263726, 263928 and 264157. - Each fine cited section 14(1) of the Czech accessibility law. - That section requires a shop to explain in its terms and conditions how its service is accessible. - Each penalty was a single sum that also covered other consumer-law breaches found in the same inspection. - The Czech Trade Inspection Authority publishes its fines in a public spreadsheet, which currently runs through 29 June 2026. - In March, the Dutch consumer authority ACM tested about 100 of the Netherlands' largest webshops, telecom sites and energy sites using assistive technology. - ACM could not complete the order at 61% of the webshops it tested.

The details: - The review found no public fines anywhere in the EU for a failed checkout flow like the Dutch one. - France's consumer watchdog DGCCRF found accessibility problems at more than half of the shopping sites it checked this year. - Sweden's regulator PTS has opened cases against 28 large online shops since 2025. - Austria reported 84 cases in the law's first year and no fines. - Finland's accessibility law contains no fines. - In Denmark, only the police can impose a fine. - The European Commission warned nine member states in January that their national versions of the law were incomplete, including the enforcement rules.

Between the lines: - The enforcement picture varies widely across Europe, which helps explain why public penalties are still uncommon. - The Czech cases point to a regulator focus on accessibility statements and legal text, while the Dutch results show the operational problem starts earlier, at the point of purchase. - The studio says its review has limits because most countries do not publish individual fines, so