EAA 2025 Compliance
What is the EAA 2025?
The European Accessibility Act (EAA) is an EU directive aimed at improving the accessibility of products and services. It ensures that people with disabilities can access digital content and services on an equal basis. The EAA references WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the standard for digital accessibility.
Deadline for Compliance
The deadline for compliance is 28 June 2025. By this date, businesses operating in the EU that offer digital services (like e-commerce checkouts) must be compliant with the EAA requirements.
Changes made to Scayle Checkout for EAA Compliance
Several key changes have been implemented to ensure our Checkout meets the WCAG 2.1 Level AA requirements. This ensures that the default experience is accessible to a wide range of users, including those using assistive technologies.
- Improved keyboard navigation: All interactive elements are reachable and operable via keyboard alone.
- Clear focus indicators: Focused elements are clearly visible for keyboard users.
- Enhanced screen reader support: Added ARIA labels, visible labels, and used semantic HTML to ensure screen readers correctly interpret content and controls.
- Font size and color contrast adjustments: Font sizes and color contrast have been adjusted to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards. This ensures sufficient contrast between text and background colors, improving readability for users with low vision.
- Resizable text: Font sizes scale appropriately with browser or system-level zoom settings.
- Alternative text for images: All non-decorative images within the checkout now have descriptive alternative text, conveying their purpose to users who cannot see them.
How Compliance Was Verified
To ensure that Checkout meets WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards, we conducted extensive testing using both automated tools and manual testing.
Automated Testing Tools
Manual Testing
- Keyboard-only navigation tests: Verified that all actions such as form submission, field focus, button presses, and modal interactions are possible without a mouse.
- Screen reader testing: Ensured content is correctly interpreted and announced using native tools for Windows and macOS:
- VoiceOver (macOS)
- Narrator (Windows)
What Tenants Need to Know
While the default Scayle Checkout settings are designed to be EAA compliant, tenants need to be mindful of potential impacts when customizing their checkout experience. Specifically:
- Theme Adjustments: When adjusting the checkout theme, particularly colors and fonts, ensure that WCAG 2.1 Level AA contrast requirements are maintained. Tools are available to help verify color contrast ratios like Google Lighthouse and WebAIM.
- Customizations and Extensions: Any custom code or third-party extensions added to the Checkout via slots should also comply to EAA accessibility guidelines.
Links
https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/lighthouse/blipmdconlkpinefehnmjammfjpmpbjk
https://www.browserstack.com/docs/accessibility/overview/introduction
