BFSG applicability guide
Does the BFSG apply to your website?
The answer depends on the product or consumer service delivered through it. Use six checks before you commission an accessibility audit.
On this page
Direct answer
- Germany's BFSG has applied to the products and consumer services listed in section 1 since 28 June 2025. A website is a delivery channel. Its legal scope follows the service provided through it.
- For ecommerce, the definition covers a digital service provided through a website or mobile app, electronically and at a consumer's individual request, with a view to concluding a consumer contract. Read the wording in BFSG section 2.
- A micro-enterprise providing services is exempt under BFSG section 3(3). The definition requires fewer than ten persons plus either turnover or balance-sheet total of no more than EUR 2 million. Covered products need a separate assessment.
- A WCAG scan cannot decide legal applicability or prove BFSG compliance. First record the service, consumer contract path, company evidence, exceptions, pages and functions, and responsible people.
- This guide structures a first assessment. Qualified German counsel should confirm borderline scope, transition, and exception questions.
Six-gate applicability record
Answer these six gates for one service at a time.
| Gate | Question | Evidence to attach | Decision |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · Offer | Which exact product or service does the company provide? | Product list, service description, terms, customer groups | Record each product and service separately |
| 2 · Statutory category | Does it match a product or consumer-service category in BFSG section 1? | Cited paragraph and short reasoning | In scope, outside listed scope, or legal review |
| 3 · Consumer path | Where does a consumer request or conclude the service? | Pages, app screens, booking or checkout flow, terms and payment | Mark the complete process and supporting pages |
| 4 · Enterprise evidence | Does the service provider meet the micro-enterprise definition? | Persons employed, turnover, balance-sheet total, reporting date | Service exemption, no exemption, or mixed-case review |
| 5 · Special provision | Could a content exception, old contract, old service product, fundamental alteration, or disproportionate burden provision matter? | Content dates and control, contract date, assessment and legal advice | Apply the precise provision or leave it unused |
| 6 · Delivery evidence | Who owns service information, technical tests, fixes, releases, and an MLBF response? | Responsibility list, test reports, issue log, release and contact records | Assign people, dates, and review triggers |
What enters the first screen
Start with the statutory service, then trace its digital path.
Online shops and consumer contracts
A consumer selects or configures an offer, identifies themselves, accepts terms, and orders or books online. Record every step through confirmation, including authentication, security, signatures, and payment where used.
Banking, transport, communications, and e-books
BFSG section 1 lists further products and services with their own boundaries. Do not infer their scope from an ecommerce checklist. Cite the relevant category and follow its specific requirements.
Company and campaign websites
A general company site is not automatically covered because it is a website. Check whether it delivers a listed consumer service or forms part of that complete digital process.
Mixed B2B and consumer models
A company can sell mainly to businesses and still operate a consumer service. Record the actual contracting party, user, request, and transaction path. Send ambiguous cases for legal review.
Micro-enterprise test
Use company evidence and keep products separate from services.
BFSG section 2 defines a micro-enterprise as a company with fewer than ten persons and either annual turnover of no more than EUR 2 million or an annual balance-sheet total of no more than EUR 2 million. Section 3(3) exempts micro-enterprises that offer or provide services.
Record the legal entity, reporting period, persons counted, turnover, balance-sheet total, and source document. Recheck after growth, restructuring, or a different entity taking over the service.
The service exemption does not create the same blanket result for covered products. A small company that manufactures, imports, or trades a listed product needs a product-specific assessment. Mixed product and service cases belong with qualified counsel.
Journey inventory
Map the pages and functions a consumer needs to complete the service.
✓
**Entry and offer:** landing pages, search, categories, product or service detail, price and availability.
✓
**Choice and configuration:** filters, variants, dates, quantities, eligibility, calculators, saved selections.
✓
**Identification and authentication:** registration, sign-in, identity checks, password recovery, multi-factor steps.
✓
**Contract and payment:** basket, booking, terms, consent, signature, address, payment and error recovery.
✓
**Confirmation and service use:** confirmation, tickets, downloads, account area, cancellation, returns and support.
✓
**Supporting pages:** the Bundesfachstelle's [ecommerce FAQ](https://www.bundesfachstelle-barrierefreiheit.de/DE/Barrierefreiheitsstaerkungsgesetz/FAQ-elektronischer-Geschaeftsverkehr/faq-elektronischer-Geschaeftsverkehr_node) says the general requirements and service monitoring indicate that the whole website or app for the in-scope electronic service should meet the requirements.
✓
**Third parties:** record who funds, develops, selects, and controls embedded widgets, payment, maps, documents, media, and marketplace content before relying on a content exception.
Requirement and evidence register
Turn the BFSGV duties into evidence your team can maintain.
| Requirement area | Evidence | Acceptance method | Review trigger |
|---|---|---|---|
| Perceivable information | Text alternatives, captions, structure, contrast and adaptable presentation | Manual review with representative content and assistive technology | New component, media type, document or design token |
| Operable service | Keyboard path, focus, controls, time limits, error recovery | Complete-process keyboard and assistive-technology tests | Changed checkout, booking, identity or payment step |
| Understandable interaction | Labels, instructions, errors, language and predictable behaviour | Task tests with realistic data and error states | New form, rule, language or customer group |
| Technical compatibility | Semantic output, names, roles, values and status messages | Code review plus browser and assistive-technology checks | Framework, component or third-party update |
| Ecommerce functions | Identification, authentication, security, signature and payment states | End-to-end tests including failures and recovery | Provider, policy or flow change |
| Service information | Accessible description of the service, requirements, fulfilment and authority | Content and accessibility review against BFSG Annex 3 | Service, evidence, authority or exception change |
| Issue handling | Finding, affected process, severity, fix, retest and release | Independent retest of the changed path | Every relevant release and reported barrier |
What the law asks the service to show
Publish the service information required by BFSG Annex 3.
For an in-scope service, BFSG Annex 3 requires accessible information in the terms or another clearly perceptible place. It covers a general service description, explanations needed to understand its operation, how the service meets the applicable requirements, and the responsible market-surveillance authority.
The functional requirements come from the BFSGV. Section 12 requires service information and websites or apps to be perceivable, operable, understandable, and technically compatible. Section 19 adds requirements for product/service accessibility information where supplied and for identification, authentication, security, signature, and payment functions.
Teams often label the resulting page an accessibility statement. Keep the legal basis and claims precise. State what was assessed, when, by whom, which service it covers, and how current evidence supports the published description.
Standards and testing
Use WCAG and EN 301 549 as technical evidence with stated limits.
WCAG gives testable web-content criteria. EN 301 549 covers a wider set of information and communications technology requirements. The BFSG and BFSGV remain the legal source for this German applicability record.
Passing an automated WCAG scan proves only what that tool tested. A defensible review includes representative pages, complete consumer processes, keyboard use, browser and screen-reader combinations, zoom and reflow, content, documents, and the relevant third-party states.
Record the standard and version used, included pages and functions, environments, assistive technologies, unresolved findings, exceptions, reviewer, and test date. Avoid a whole-service conformity claim when the evidence covers only a sample.
Compliance next step
Get a compliance check on: BFSG website applicability
Send us where your site stands today. We reply with the risks that carry real exposure, not a generic checklist.
Dated legal markers
- 28 Jun
- 2025: BFSG applies to the listed products placed on the market and listed consumer services provided after the statutory date.
- 27 Jun
- 2030: latest date for the specific pre-2025 service-contract transition in BFSG section 38.
- 100kEUR
- Maximum fine for specified offence categories. Other listed offences carry a maximum of EUR 10,000.
Transition, exceptions, and enforcement
Document the exact provision and prepare for the nationwide MLBF.
The transition rules in BFSG section 38 are specific. Certain service contracts concluded before 28 June 2025 may continue unchanged until their term ends, no later than 27 June 2030. Separate provisions cover products already used to provide services and older self-service terminals. The section does not create a general exemption for an old website.
Fundamental alteration and disproportionate burden are assessed against their statutory conditions. Record the affected requirement, evidence, calculation, approval, notification duty, review date, and accessible parts that remain deliverable. Qualified counsel should review reliance on either provision.
The Länder created one nationwide Market Surveillance Authority for Accessibility of Products and Services (MLBF). The Bundesfachstelle FAQ says it began work in September 2025 and can sample services, require correction, and restrict or prohibit an offer. BFSG section 37 sets offence-dependent maximum fines of EUR 100,000 or EUR 10,000.
Buyer questions
Questions to settle before commissioning BFSG work.
Does the BFSG apply to every business website in Germany?
No. The BFSG applies to products and consumer services listed in section 1. A website enters scope when it delivers or supports one of those services. Record the service and complete consumer process before defining the technical audit.
Does the BFSG apply to a B2B website?
A purely business-to-business information or contracting path may sit outside the consumer-service definition. The company label does not settle the question. Check whether any part of the site offers a listed service to consumers or supports a consumer contract.
Are micro-enterprises exempt from the BFSG?
Micro-enterprises that offer or provide services are exempt under BFSG section 3(3). Verify fewer than ten persons plus either turnover or balance-sheet total no more than EUR 2 million. Covered products and mixed cases need a separate assessment.
Is WCAG 2.1 AA the same as BFSG compliance?
No. WCAG supplies important web-content tests, while the BFSGV includes functional and service-information requirements. State the standard used and evidence scope, and review the complete consumer process plus Annex 3 information.
Do we need an accessibility statement under the BFSG?
An in-scope service provider must make the information in BFSG Annex 3 accessible in its terms or another clearly perceptible place. The page may be called an accessibility statement, but its contents and legal basis should match the service and evidence.
What are the BFSG fines in Germany?
BFSG section 37 provides maximum fines of EUR 100,000 for specified offence categories and EUR 10,000 for the remaining listed offences. The authority can first require corrective action and may restrict or prohibit a non-conforming offer.
From applicability to technical evidence
Bring the service record and consumer path into the audit.
Send the six-gate record, terms, journey inventory, platform list, known barriers, and current test evidence. We will turn the confirmed technical scope into representative pages, complete processes, environments, assistive-technology checks, findings, and retests.
Review the EAA and BITV accessibility audit for the technical engagement and the accessibility audit cost guide for comparable request fields. Legal counsel remains responsible for the applicability opinion and use of statutory exceptions.
Written by
Vineet Talwar
Co-founder, Tech & Operations at Some Tech Work. WordCamp speaker across Europe and Asia, and host of the WP Shoutout podcast.
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