Enforcement of accessibility — what actually happens
Stay calm. There are three entirely different routes by which accessibility law can reach you, and the loudest is not the likeliest. This page separates them and names the legal basis for each.
Three routes that keep getting confused
In everyday speech “warning letter” has become a catch-all for anything unpleasant. In law these are three distinct processes with different senders, different bases and very different consequences. The example below is Germany, because its procedure is documented in the most detail; every member state has its own implementing act and its own market surveillance authority.
| Route | Who | Basis (Germany) | What happens first |
|---|---|---|---|
| Market surveillance | MLBF, Magdeburg | §§ 20–22 BFSG | A request to remedy the defects within a reasonable period |
| Application in administrative proceedings | Consumer or recognised association | § 32 BFSG | The authority must open proceedings and hear you |
| Competition-law warning letter | A competitor | Unfair competition law — legally contested | Lawyer's letter with a cease-and-desist undertaking and a bill |
Route 1: market surveillance
Since 26 September 2025 the competent German body has been the joint market surveillance body of the federal states for the accessibility of products and services (MLBF), a public-law institution based in Magdeburg. It works for all 16 states and accepts reports through its website.
It becomes active in two ways: reactively on complaints and actively through its own checks following a risk-based strategy — offerings with wide reach first, and those that matter for independent living. It checks formal conformity first (is there an accessibility statement at all?) and material conformity second (is the offering actually usable?).
What happens next was described by the MLBF's acting director, Robert Richard, in Börsenblatt in March 2026: first a request to remedy the defects within a reasonable period; if that fails, a second request threatening a ban on providing the service. In his words: “Sanctions are always the last resort for us.” At that point, he said, over 500 reports had been received.
Only at the end of that chain come the fines under § 37 BFSG: up to 100,000 € in the serious cases listed there, up to 10,000 € in the rest. Anyone who responds to the first request does not normally get near that range.
Route 2: an application by a consumer or association
§ 32 BFSG gives consumers the right to apply to the market surveillance authority if an offering is unusable or only partly usable because it is not accessible. The authority then must open proceedings. A consumer may also instruct a recognised association to file on their behalf.
Recognised associations and qualified bodies may additionally apply in their own right where the alleged breach touches their statutory remit — an infringement of their own rights is expressly not required. You are given the opportunity to respond before a decision.
This route costs you nothing at first, but it cannot be waited out either: the authority is obliged to open proceedings and must decide on the application. In practice it is the most likely trigger, because a single affected person can set it in motion.
Route 3: a warning letter from a competitor
This is the route people are warned about most loudly and the one with the thinnest basis. A competition-law claim for breach of statute requires that the provision infringed regulates market conduct in the interest of market participants. Whether the accessibility requirements do that has not been settled.
As at the date of this page (25 August 2026) we are not aware of any published supreme-court decision affirming this for the accessibility requirements. Anyone claiming a “wave of warning letters” should therefore be able to cite case numbers. We found no reliable figures, and so we assert none.
That does not mean nobody tries. It means such a letter is not automatic; it is a legal assertion — and one to have checked before signing anything.
When a letter really does arrive
Four things, in this order. The most expensive mistake usually happens in the first 48 hours.
- Note the deadline, sign nothing. A cease-and-desist undertaking backed by a penalty binds you permanently — even if the accusation was unfounded. It is not the tool for buying quick peace.
- Preserve the current state. Before making any change, run a dated test and take screenshots. To show later what was fixed and when, you need the starting point.
- Identify the sender. Authority, association or competitor — everything else follows from that. The table above helps.
- Get legal advice. In IT and competition law the cost of advice is usually smaller than the damage of a wrongly signed undertaking. We are not a law firm and this page is not legal advice.
What helps fastest — beforehand
The formal part of the check is the cheapest one, and it is missed most often. In Germany, § 14 BFSG requires service providers to publish the information set out in Annex 3 No. 1, publicly available and itself accessible. Without that accessibility statement you stand out immediately, before a single line of code has been examined. Our generator produces it free of charge.
Alongside it belongs a feedback channel through which people can report barriers — an email address or a form that is reachable and answered.
And the third part is the one that really counts in an inspection: a documented history. A dated test log shows that you attend to this continuously. That is a different thing from starting work the day after the letter arrives.
Sources for this page: German BFSG §§ 14, 20–22, 32, 37 (gesetze-im-internet.de) · joint market surveillance body of the federal states for accessibility of products and services, competent since 26 Sep 2025 · interview with Robert Richard, acting director of the MLBF, Börsenblatt, 10 March 2026. This page reflects the position as at 25 August 2026 and is not legal advice.
Accessibility statement
The formal part that gets checked first. Free generator, no account.
Does this apply to me at all?
Before you worry: microenterprises are exempt for services.
What remediation costs
Four cost blocks, current market prices, and why time pressure is the most expensive factor.
What your shop system brings
Shopware, Shopify, WooCommerce and the rest — with measurements from real shops.
Put the starting point on record
A dated test run is the evidence you will want later — whether a letter arrives or not.