According to a study carried out in 2023 by APF France handicap[1], over 18% of the French population is disabled, demonstrating the importance of this law in guaranteeing access to online services for all.

Why does this law concern your company?

Until now, digital accessibility obligations have mainly concerned public services. From next Junethese obligations extend to private companies with more than 10 employees with annual sales exceeding 2 million euros. This means that if your company meets these criteria, you'll need to comply with the new requirements to ensure that your website is accessible to all users.

In 2024, the French Ministry of Solidarity and Health[2] announced that less than 10% of websites in France were fully accessible to people with disabilities, showing the scale of the task ahead to comply with this new legislation.

Implications for your e-commerce site

An accessible e-commerce site not only benefits people with disabilities, but also also improves the overall user experience, reduces the bounce rate and can potentially increase your sales. On average, accessible sites see an increase in their conversion rate from 15 to 25%.[3].

Concrete examples of barriers to digital accessibility :

  • Buttons and links not navigable by keyboard Imagine a visually impaired user who can't click on the buttons to add items to the shopping cart. This prevents purchase and reduces sales.
  • Insufficient color contrast for the visually impaired A visually impaired user may not be able to correctly distinguish elements on a site with poor color contrast. This is detrimental to the experience and can lead to site abandonment.
  • No alternative descriptions for images If a product image doesn't have an alternative description, a blind user won't have any information about the product. This has a direct impact on sales.
  • Lack of subtitles for videos For a company selling products or services via video, the absence of subtitles prevents deaf or hard-of-hearing people from understanding the content, making communication ineffective.

Penalties for non-compliance

Failure to comply with these obligations can result in significant financial penalties. Non-compliant companies face fines of up to 50,000 eurosIn addition, a fine will be imposed, renewable every six months in the event of persistent non-compliance. In addition, a fine of 25,000 euros can be applied if accessibility declarations or multi-year plans are not published.

Soledis, your partner for successful compliance

At Soledis, we support companies in their transition to a more accessible web. Thanks to our expertise and mastery of RGAA standardsWe can help you anticipate these new requirements with a range of services:

  • Implementing solutions Technical adaptation to meet RGAA requirements.
  • Training Digital accessibility: raising your teams' awareness of best practices in digital accessibility.

A concrete project: redesigning the Association Valentin Haüy (AVH) website

We have already put our expertise to work on ambitious digital accessibility projects, notably with the redesign of the Association Valentin Haüy (AVH) e-commerce site.

L'AVHwhich has been helping blind and partially-sighted people for over a century, has made e-commerce a key strategic focus to reach its users directly. However, a major challenge was accessibility, in order to offer an optimal experience to its audience.

In 2024, AVH entrusted Soledis with the complete overhaul of its Prestashop site with a clear objective: guarantee smooth browsing in compliance with RGAA criteria to enable the visually impaired to shop independently.

Our key interventions

  • Migration to Prestashop 8 Modernization of the technical environment to improve site performance and safety.
  • Graphic and ergonomic redesign In-house design, adapted to the needs of visually impaired users.
  • Sage ERP interfacing synchronization of inventory and orders for optimized management.
  • Improving accessibility Accessibility audit: integration of recommendations from Ideance, experts in accessibility audits.
  • SEO optimization and performance monitoring Optimized navigation for increased traffic and conversion rates.

 

The results

Thanks to these improvements, AVH has seen a significant increase in traffic and conversion ratesconfirmed by Matomo data. In addition, Ideance audit praised the quality of the work accomplished, making the AVH site one of the few to reach a high level of accessibility according to RGAA criteria.

Web accessibility: an obligation that becomes an opportunity

More than just a legal obligation, making your site accessible means offering a better user experience fluid and inclusive, improve your search engine optimization (SEO) and reach a wider audience.
Google favors sites that respect good accessibility practices.which can boost your visibility and conversion rate. Accessible sites can be increase 20%'s visibility on search engines.

Don't suffer this evolution, anticipate it and turn it into an opportunity!

Need an initial diagnosis? Take part in an audit with our experts and identify your priorities!

Our experts Soledis are there to support you every step of the way.

Contact our sales or project managers today and make accessibility a real performance driver for your company.

 

[1] APF France Handicap. (2023). Barometer of digital accessibility in France. Available on : www.apf-francehandicap.org

[2] Ministry of Solidarity and Health. Disability in figures - Edition 2024. 2024. Available on : https://handicap.gouv.fr/publication-drees-le-handicap-en-chiffres-edition-2024.

[3] Entreprise-Progrès.net. The importance of web accessibility for businesses in 2025. Available on https://www.entreprise-progres.net/importance-accessibilite-web-entreprises-en-2025