Sometimes the most important conversations start with uncomfortable truths. In early 2024, accessibility expert Amber Hinds from Equalize Digital published an audit that revealed over 50 accessibility issues on their WooCommerce website. The message was clear; our platform, powering millions of online stores, wasn’t serving everyone equally.

I knew we had to act fast and make this a priority. That moment sparked one of WooCommerce’s most ambitious projects: achieving full accessibility compliance. But this wasn’t just about ticking boxes. It was about recognising that shopping online should be possible for everyone.

Racing Against Time and Building Our Dream Team

The urgency hit home at WordCamp Europe 2024. Conversations with Amber Hinds, Bet Hannon from AccessiCart, and other accessibility advocates revealed a looming deadline: the European Accessibility Act becomes law June 28, 2025.

The stakes were serious. Ecommerce stores can face fines of €5,000 to €20,000 per violation, with some countries imposing even harsher penalties. But beyond legal risks, the human impact was staggering. Around 80 million Europeans live with disabilities, and research shows that 95% of websites currently give them poor online shopping experiences.

These conversations convinced me we needed to move beyond incremental improvements to full compliance.

For this we needed the best minds in accessibility, and fast. We recruited Equalize Digital to conduct a comprehensive audit of WooCommerce frontend output, examining every scenario that disabled customers might encounter when shopping online. Their detailed roadmap became our playbook. Next, we partnered with 10up, bringing their accessibility expertise to systematically address each issue.

The challenge was immense. Ecommerce isn’t just a simple website: it’s dynamic pricing, product variations, checkout flows, and real-time updates. Making all of this work seamlessly for screen readers, keyboard users, and other assistive technologies required serious innovation.

The community response was incredible. Developers worldwide contributed solutions, bringing fresh perspectives we hadn’t considered. You can see the collaborative effort on GitHub; each closed issue represents someone who can now shop online more easily.

The Business Case That Made Everything Click

As we dove deeper, we realised accessibility isn’t just the right thing to do: it’s smart business. Research shows that accessible design delivers significant returns on investment and opens access to underserved markets.

Plus, accessible design helps everyone. Clear navigation, readable text, and keyboard shortcuts make shopping faster for all customers. We weren’t just helping merchants to avoid fines. We were unlocking 80 million potential European customers with significant purchasing power.

Full Compliance Achieved and What It Means

I’m thrilled to announce that WooCommerce 10.0 (launching early July 2025) fully meets WCAG 2.2 Level AA standards with substantial Level AAA compliance when used with an accessible WordPress theme. This means the 4.6+ million stores using WooCommerce can now serve every customer equally, meeting the strictest global accessibility requirements.

We’re building automated and manual workflows to ensure we remain compliant and don’t introduce regressions. But this is just the beginning; we’re also implementing these improvements across our collection of WooCommerce-owned extensions.

This journey taught us that meaningful change starts with listening to voices that may have been overlooked. Amber’s audit wasn’t just pointing out problems: it was an invitation to build something better.

For store owners, this means welcoming every customer without worrying about compliance, provided you’re using an accessible theme. For developers, it provides accessible building blocks. And for the WordPress community, it proves what’s possible when we put inclusion first.

You can find detailed conformance reports (coming soon) and accessibility resources at our new accessibility hub. The European Accessibility Act deadline is approaching fast, but WooCommerce users are ready. More importantly, we’ve set a new standard for what ecommerce platforms should be. Truly accessible to all.