Website Accessibility: The Complete WCAG Guide

From June 28, 2025, the European Accessibility Act (EAA) became mandatory throughout the European Union, including Romania. This means that all websites and mobile applications of companies selling products or services in the EU must comply with WCAG 2.1 accessibility standards (minimum Level AA) or risk fines.

This guide is about what web accessibility concretely means in 2026, what the legal requirements are for Romanian businesses, and how to implement an accessible site step by step. Without jargon, just practical reality.

What web accessibility is

Web accessibility means your site is usable by people with disabilities: people without sight using screen readers, people with low vision needing high contrast and enlarged text, people with reduced mobility navigating only with keyboard, people with cognitive disabilities needing clear structure and simple language.

In Romania, according to ANPDPD data, there were 966,637 people holding a disability certificate as of 31 March 2025, roughly 5% of the population. In the EU, the number reaches 87 million. This is no longer a niche, it's a serious user segment you ignore at great cost if your site is inaccessible.

Legal framework in Romania 2026

European Accessibility Act (EAA)

Applicable from June 28, 2025 for new products and services. Old sites launched before this date have until June 28, 2030 to comply. Main requirement: compliance with EN 301 549 standard (which incorporates WCAG 2.1 Level AA).

Who it applies to

• E-commerce of any kind selling to EU consumers
• Banking services to consumers
• Electronic communications services (telecom, ISP)
• Transport services (online booking, ticketing)
• E-books and reading platforms
• Self-service terminals (ATMs, ticket machines)

Important exceptions: micro-enterprises (under 10 employees and under 2M EUR turnover) are exempt from service requirements. But not for products, an online product store must be accessible regardless of size.

Fines in Romania

The designated supervisory authority is the National Authority for the Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (ANPDPD). Penalties provided: 5000-25,000 RON for micro and small, 25,000-100,000 RON for medium firms, 100,000-500,000 RON for large firms. Plus possibility of temporary service suspension.

In reality, enforcement in Romania is still being built. First significant fines are expected in 2026-2027. But the trend is clear: in 2-3 years, accessibility audits will be the norm, not the exception.

WCAG 2.2 AA in practice

WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) is the technical standard for accessibility. Current version is 2.2 (2023), with Level AA being the recommended level for most commercial sites.

The 4 WCAG principles

1. Perceivable, users must be able to perceive presented information (alt text for images, captions for video, sufficient contrast)
2. Operable, users must be able to navigate and interact (keyboard without mouse, no convulsion-causing content, sufficient time for actions)
3. Understandable, information and interface must be intelligible (simple language, predictable behavior, clear errors)
4. Robust, content must work with a variety of browsers and assistive technologies (valid semantic HTML, correctly used ARIA)

Top 15 concrete elements to check

Content and structure

1. Alt text on all informative images, descriptive, not "IMG_2034.jpg". Purely decorative images have alt="" (explicitly empty)
2. Correct heading hierarchy, single H1 per page, H2 for sections, H3 for sub-sections, no jumps (H1 → H3 without H2)
3. Captions and transcripts for video, synchronous captions for deaf users, text transcript for users who can't play media
4. Simple language, avoid unnecessary jargon, short sentences (max 20 words ideal), explanations for technical terms
5. Correct lang attribute, `` or `"ro"`, plus inline lang for passages in other languages

Visual

6. Minimum contrast 4.5:1 for normal text, 3:1 for large text (above 18px bold or 24px regular)
7. Text resizable to 200% without loss of functionality, no fixed pixel text for essential elements
8. Never color alone as information, links have underline, errors have icon plus color, statuses have text too
9. Visible focus indicator, focus outline minimum 2px, 3:1 contrast with background, not eliminated with `outline: none` without replacement
10. Sufficient spacing, line-height minimum 1.5, paragraph spacing minimum 2x font-size, letter-spacing 0.12em for dense serif text

Interaction

11. Everything keyboard-accessible, Tab for navigation, Enter/Space for activation, Escape for closing modals
12. Skip links, "Skip to main content" link at page start for screen reader users
13. Forms with associated labels, `` linked to ``, not just placeholder text
14. Clear errors, specific error message (not "error"), linked to wrong field, announced to screen reader with aria-live
15. Sufficient time, no session timeout under 20 minutes without extension possibility, no auto-refresh without control

Free audit tools

• WAVE (wave.webaim.org), browser extension highlighting page issues
• axe DevTools (Chrome/Firefox browser extension), detailed audit with severity
• Lighthouse Accessibility (in Chrome DevTools), automatic 0-100 score plus issues
• Color Contrast Analyser (TPGi), WCAG-compliant contrast verification
• NVDA (free Windows), screen reader for manual testing
• VoiceOver (built-in macOS/iOS), same purpose, more natural for Apple

Automatic audit catches 30-50% of real issues. The rest require manual testing with keyboard and screen reader. For an average site, complete audit takes 8-16 hours of specialized work.

Accessibility implementation cost

If you do accessibility from the start, in the design + development phase, additional cost is between 5% and 15% of total budget. For a 12,000 RON site, that means 600-1800 RON above normal cost.

If you do retrofit on an existing site, the cost rises to 20-50% of initial budget. For the same site, 2400-6000 RON additional.

Clear message: you plan accessibility from wireframe, not add it after.

How to test in 30 minutes if your site is accessible

1. Disconnect the mouse. Navigate the site only with Tab, Shift+Tab, Enter, Space, Escape. Can you reach all important functions? Is the focus indicator always visible?
2. Enlarge text to 200% in browser. Does the site remain functional or do elements break?
3. Run Lighthouse Accessibility. Score under 90 = serious problems.
4. Use a screen reader (NVDA on Windows, VoiceOver on Mac) and try to navigate the homepage and complete the contact form. Do you succeed?
5. Check contrast of 5 random elements with Color Contrast Analyser. All above 4.5:1?

If the answer to any is "no", you have work to do.

Conclusion

Web accessibility is no longer an optional ethical decision in 2026, it's a legal obligation in the EU plus a real competitive advantage. Accessible sites rank better SEO (Google integrated accessibility signals into Core Algorithm back in 2024), convert more (older users, users with temporary disabilities), and protect the firm from rising fines.

At DCL we implement WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility in all our custom sites from the first design iteration. Reusable components tested with screen reader, contrast verified automatically in build, correct focus management on modals and dropdowns. If you want an accessibility audit on your existing site or a new EAA-compliant project, contact us through the form.