Equality Act 2010 (UK)
Detailed explanation
The Equality Act contains duties for service providers, including a duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people. Whether a merchant and a particular online service are in scope, and what adjustment is reasonable, depend on the service and facts.
Individuals and the Equality and Human Rights Commission have different enforcement routes under the Act. A glossary cannot predict claim volume, venue, remedies, or the result of a website-accessibility dispute.
How this applies to Shopify stores
A Shopify merchant offering services to UK consumers should assess the Equality Act and any other applicable rules for its business. WCAG can provide a useful technical benchmark, but AccessComply's automated findings are not a legal or conformance determination.
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
Scan your storefront free
AccessComply checks the automated rules it supports on the pages it reaches and shows each fix before anything is written. Some issues still need hands-on testing.