How high is the fine for an inaccessible website?

The penalty amount varies considerably by country, with France being the highest

The fine for an inaccessible website is not a fixed European amount: the European Accessibility Act sets the technical standard (EN 301 549, in practice WCAG 2.1 level AA), but leaves enforcement to each Member State. For the four countries reviewed, the maximum penalty ranges from €100,000 in Germany to €900,000 — or a percentage of turnover — in the Netherlands, with France at €250,000 and Belgium at €200,000 per infringement. The latter is a detail that matters: in Belgium the cap applies not per case but per violation, which with a site containing multiple defects works differently than a single fixed maximum.

The lowest maximum does not automatically mean the mildest enforcement regime. In Germany, alongside the official market surveillance authority, the Marktüberwachungsstelle der Länder, there is also a competition law route: competitors and industry associations can send a cease-and-desist letter for unfair competition, with cost liability, and that route is typically faster than any market surveillance authority. In the Netherlands, the ACM has not yet issued formal fines as of mid-2026, but has issued public notices with a remediation period of approximately three months before retesting. In France, alongside the DGCCRF, there is an active route through disability organisations that can formally notify chains directly. For the remaining twenty-three EU Member States, this has not yet been reviewed — it has not yet been established who exercises supervision or what amounts apply.

Where these amounts come from

The stated maxima come from the national transposition laws themselves: the Implementation Act on accessibility requirements for products and services for the Netherlands, with the ACM as the market surveillance authority; the Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz (BFSG) for Germany; the transposition in the Code de la consommation for France, enforced by the DGCCRF; and the transposition in the Economic Code for Belgium, enforced by the Economic Inspection of the Federal Public Service Economy. Micro-enterprises providing services — fewer than ten employees and at most two million euros annual turnover, both — fall outside the scheme in each of these four countries.