Equality Act 2010 (UK)
The Equality Act 2010 is the UK statute that consolidates anti-discrimination law and requires service providers (including ecommerce) to make reasonable adjustments so that disabled persons are not put at a substantial disadvantage.
Detailed explanation
The Equality Act applies to every "service provider" in the UK, which includes online retailers selling to UK consumers. The duty to make reasonable adjustments is anticipatory — adjustments must be made before a disabled person attempts to use the service, not in response to a specific complaint.
Enforcement is through individual claims to county court (for most service-related claims) or the Equality and Human Rights Commission (for systemic concerns). UK case law has not produced a Robles-equivalent appellate ruling, but tribunal claims and pre-litigation complaints against inaccessible websites are increasing.
How this applies to Shopify stores
Post-Brexit, the EAA does not apply in the UK, but the Equality Act 2010 still requires accessible websites for any merchant serving UK consumers. WCAG 2.1 Level AA is the practical target — aligned with what the UK's Government Digital Service (GDS) recommends.
What merchants should check next
Treat this term as a practical audit prompt, not just a definition. Check the storefront pages where the concept shows up in real customer journeys: product discovery, add-to-cart, cart drawer, checkout handoff, account login, and support contact flows. If the issue affects code, verify the rendered HTML and computed browser output after the theme change. If it affects copy or media, keep the merchant-facing wording accurate and easy to maintain.
Primary source: legislation.gov.uk