BFSG Check
Are you affected by the German Accessibility Strengthening Act (BFSG)? Three questions for an assessment, plus a technical check of your page for the machine-detectable points.
Step 1: are you affected at all?
The BFSG does not apply to every website. Three questions are enough for an initial assessment, and the answers stay in your browser.
Step 2: what does your website say?
Checks the machine-detectable points of a publicly reachable page, regardless of whether you are affected.
The German Accessibility Strengthening Act in brief
The Accessibility Strengthening Act (BFSG) has applied in Germany since 28 June 2025. It implements the European Accessibility Act and obliges companies to offer certain products and services to consumers in an accessible form. For websites this means in concrete terms: anyone selling to consumers online must design their site so that people with disabilities can use it too.
Who it affects, and who it does not
Not all websites are covered, but certain offerings: electronic commerce, meaning every online shop and every binding online order, plus consumer banking services, telecommunications services, passenger transport services, and e-books and their associated applications. A purely informational or image website without such functions is not covered. Neither is a purely business-to-business offering, because the law protects consumers.
Micro-enterprises, meaning fewer than ten employees and at most two million euros in annual turnover or annual balance sheet total, are exempt from the requirements for services only. And here lies the point that many overview articles leave out: For products this exemption does not apply. Anyone placing payment terminals, e-readers or routers on the market remains obliged regardless of company size. Nor can anyone providing services on behalf of larger providers rely on the exemption.
What is required technically
The benchmark is the European standard EN 301 549, which for web content essentially refers to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1, level AA. Behind it are four principles: content must be perceivable, operable, understandable and robust. In practice this means, among other things, alternative texts for images, labelled form fields, a coherent heading structure, sufficient colour contrast, full keyboard operability and a visible focus indicator. On top of that comes the obligation to provide an accessibility statement on the website.
What an automated check can do, and what it cannot
A tool like this reads the delivered source code and finds the points that can be read from it unambiguously: missing language attribute, missing page title, images without an alt attribute, unlabelled form fields, skipped heading levels, missing landmark regions, nameless links and blocked zooming.
What it cannot judge is whether an alternative text actually describes the image meaningfully, whether the colour contrast is sufficient, whether the focus order follows the reading order or whether the page can be fully operated with the keyboard. These points make up a substantial part of the requirements and need an actual rendering in the browser as well as human judgement. A good result in an automated check is therefore a good start, but not a confirmation of accessibility.
Privacy
The questions on applicability are evaluated exclusively in your browser; the answers are not transmitted. For the technical check, our server fetches the specified page once, and the checked address is not logged.
Frequently asked questions
Who does the German Accessibility Strengthening Act apply to?
Since 28 June 2025 the BFSG has applied to certain products and services offered to consumers: electronic commerce (i.e. online shops and binding online orders), consumer banking services, telecommunications services, passenger transport services, and e-books and their associated applications. A purely informational or image website without such functions is not covered, and neither is a purely business-to-business offering.
Are micro-enterprises really exempt?
Only for services. Anyone with fewer than ten employees and an annual turnover or annual balance sheet total of at most two million euros is exempt from the requirements for services; both thresholds must be met. For products this exemption expressly does NOT apply: anyone placing payment terminals, e-readers or routers on the market remains obliged regardless of size. Nor can anyone providing services on behalf of larger providers rely on the exemption.
Which technical requirements apply?
The benchmark is the European standard EN 301 549, which for web content essentially refers to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1, level AA. In practice this means, among other things: alternative texts for images, labelled form fields, a coherent heading structure, sufficient colour contrast, full keyboard operability and a visible focus indicator. On top of that comes an accessibility statement on the website.
Can an automated check confirm accessibility?
No, and that is important to know. An automated tool reads the delivered source code and finds what can be clearly read from it: missing language attribute, images without an alt attribute, unlabelled form fields, skipped heading levels. Whether an alternative text describes the image meaningfully, whether the colour contrast is sufficient, whether the focus order is right and whether everything can be operated by keyboard, it cannot judge. These points make up a substantial part of the requirements and need human judgement.
What exactly does this tool check?
Eight machine-detectable points: the language attribute of the html element, the presence of a page title, alt attributes on images, the labelling of form fields, the heading structure, the markup of main and navigation regions, recognisable names on links and buttons, and whether zooming the page is prevented. Every finding names the associated WCAG criterion and the affected elements.
Is my data stored?
The three questions on applicability are evaluated exclusively in your browser; the answers are not transmitted. For the technical check, our server fetches the specified page once, and the checked address is not logged.
What happens in the event of violations?
Market surveillance lies with the federal states; the competent body is the states’ market surveillance authority for the accessibility of products and services. It can examine offerings, object to deficiencies and, in extreme cases, prohibit provision. Consumers and associations can report violations. This assessment does not replace legal advice.
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