EAA Compliance for French Shopify Stores: RGAA, Loi pour la Confiance Numérique, and the EAA

France: Europe's Most Experienced Accessibility Jurisdiction

France has been regulating digital accessibility longer than most European countries. The Loi pour la République Numérique (2016) extended accessibility requirements to large private companies. The RGAA (Référentiel Général d'Amélioration de l'Accessibilité) provides France's national technical standard, which aligns closely with WCAG 2.1.

Now, the European Accessibility Act (EAA) — transposed into French law in 2024 — extends these obligations further, specifically to ecommerce digital services. If you operate a Shopify store targeting French customers, understanding this layered framework is essential.

France's Accessibility Law Framework

1. Loi pour la République Numérique (2016)

This law applied digital accessibility obligations to:

• Public sector bodies
• Companies with more than 250 employees
• Companies with more than €50 million in annual turnover

For smaller Shopify merchants, this law historically did not apply directly. The EAA changes that for ecommerce.

2. The RGAA — France's Technical Standard

The RGAA provides 106 criteria for testing accessibility, organized into 13 themes. It is the French interpretation of WCAG and EN 301 549, and auditors and accessibility professionals in France use it as the benchmark.

RGAA criteria cover:

• Images and their alternatives
• Colors and contrast
• Scripts and dynamic content
• Multimedia
• Tables
• Forms
• Navigation
• Consultation (reading/comprehension)

For Shopify merchants, RGAA compliance is essentially equivalent to WCAG 2.1 AA. Fixing your WCAG violations fixes your RGAA violations.

3. EAA Transposition (2024)

France transposed the EAA through an ordonnance, extending accessibility obligations to:

Ecommerce services offered to consumers — specifically including online shopping interfaces, ordering processes, and digital payment flows.

The enforcement date for private sector ecommerce: June 28, 2025.

What French Ecommerce Stores Must Do

Publish a Déclaration d'Accessibilité

Under French law, a déclaration d'accessibilité (accessibility statement) is mandatory. The statement must:

1. State your conformance level (fully compliant, partially compliant, non-compliant)
2. List the non-compliant content and the WCAG/RGAA criteria it fails
3. Describe the exceptions or alternative content provided
4. Provide a contact mechanism (email, form, or phone)
5. Name the person responsible for accessibility at your organization
6. Include a reference to the enforcement authority

France's DINUM (Direction Interministérielle du Numérique) provides an official template at accessibilite.numerique.gouv.fr. The statement must be accessible from your homepage — typically linked in the footer.

Provide an Accessible Ecommerce Interface

The core technical requirement is WCAG 2.1 Level AA for your digital commerce interface. This means the same technical fixes as EAA compliance generally:

• Alt text on product images
• Accessible forms (labels, error messages)
• Sufficient color contrast
• Keyboard navigation
• Skip navigation
• Screen reader compatibility
• Accessible media controls

Respond to Accessibility Complaints

French accessibility law includes a formal complaints mechanism. Users who encounter inaccessible content on your store can file a complaint directly with you or with the enforcement authority. You are required to respond within a reasonable time.

The enforcement authority for private sector digital accessibility in France is the ARCOM (Autorité de Régulation de la Communication Audiovisuelle et Numérique), which has taken over from the previous Défenseur des droits mechanism.

Penalties for Non-Compliance in France

France's enforcement regime includes:

• €20,000 per violation for failure to publish a valid accessibility statement
• Injunctive orders from ARCOM requiring you to make content accessible within a specified deadline
• Repeated violation penalties can escalate significantly
• DGCCRF (France's consumer protection authority) also has authority over ecommerce accessibility as a consumer rights matter

This is more active enforcement than most EU countries had before the EAA, because France already had enforcement infrastructure from its pre-EAA public sector accessibility laws.

Special Considerations for French Shopify Stores

Language and Accessibility

WCAG 3.1.1 requires the correct lang attribute on the HTML element. French-language stores must have lang="fr". If your Shopify store serves multiple language markets via Shopify Markets, ensure that the correct language attribute is set for each locale.

Shopify's request.locale.iso_code Liquid variable should automatically populate the correct language code:

<html lang="{{ request.locale.iso_code }}">

French Consumer Law Integration

France's Code de la consommation already requires that ecommerce interfaces be clear, accessible, and usable. Accessibility violations that prevent users from completing a purchase may also trigger consumer protection complaints — separate from accessibility law.

RGAA Audit Requirements

For larger French companies (250+ employees or €50M+ turnover), French law historically required a periodic RGAA audit. The EAA extends accessibility obligations to smaller entities, but the audit requirement mechanism is still evolving in the private sector context.

AccessComply's automated scans provide axe-core results mapped to WCAG 2.1 criteria, which correspond directly to RGAA criteria. This gives you documentation of your compliance status suitable for French legal purposes.

Getting Started with EAA/RGAA Compliance for Your French Store

Step 1: Run a full accessibility scan to identify violations. AccessComply provides WCAG 2.1 AA violation reports with severity, location, and specific criteria.

Step 2: Fix violations at the source-code level. For Shopify stores, this means modifying Liquid templates, CSS, and JavaScript. Overlays do not meet French accessibility law requirements.

Step 3: Write your déclaration d'accessibilité using DINUM's template. Be honest about your conformance level — stating "fully compliant" when you have open violations is a legal risk.

Step 4: Add the accessibility statement to your footer with a prominent link.

Step 5: Establish a monitoring process. French law requires ongoing compliance — theme updates, new content, and new apps can all introduce new violations.

France takes digital accessibility seriously. With an established regulatory framework, active enforcement authority, and a population of disability advocates familiar with their rights, non-compliant French-market ecommerce stores face real consequences.

Further Reading

• What Is the European Accessibility Act (EAA) and How It Affects Shopify Stores
• EAA Compliance for German Shopify Stores: What the BFSG Requires
• UK Web Accessibility Law for Shopify Stores: Equality Act 2010
• WCAG 2.1 AA Compliance Checklist for Shopify Store Owners