Peradeo Blog · Europe · Published 2026-08-28 · 7 min read
France's RGAA: The Strictest Web Accessibility Regime in Europe — and the Court Ruling That Proved It
By Vatsal Shah — Founder & CEO, IAAP WAS-Certified Accessibility Professional
France has regulated web accessibility since 2005, and it enforces harder than any of its neighbours. In June 2026, the Tribunal de Caen ordered retail giant Carrefour to bring its e-commerce site into conformance within six months, imposing €500 per day until it does plus €10,000 in damages — and pointedly held that 71% RGAA conformance was not enough. If you serve the French market, this is the enforcement climate.
Regime one: Article 47 and the RGAA
Article 47 of France's disability law (Loi n° 2005-102) requires digital accessibility from:
- Public sector bodies — state administrations, local authorities, and public institutions;
- Private companies with French revenue over €250 million (three-year average) — pulling France's biggest retailers, banks, telecoms, and platforms into the public-sector framework.
Covered organizations must conform to the RGAA (Référentiel Général d'Amélioration de l'Accessibilité, currently version 4.1.x) — France's WCAG-based audit methodology — and publish three documents: an accessibility statement per site, a multi-year accessibility plan (schéma pluriannuel), and an annual action plan. Enforcement sits with Arcom, with fines up to €50,000 for non-conformity (repeatable every six months) and €25,000 for missing publications.
Regime two: the European Accessibility Act
Since June 28, 2025, France's transposition of the EAA extends accessibility duties to all non-micro businesses selling covered services to French consumers — e-commerce, banking, transport, telecoms, e-books — regardless of the €250M threshold. Enforcement runs through the DGCCRF and sector regulators with contravention fines (€1,500/€7,500, doubling on repeat) — but as Carrefour shows, the sharper risk is civil litigation by disability organizations, which is fast, public, and reputationally expensive.
The technical benchmark
The RGAA operationalizes WCAG (level AA) as a concrete audit method of 106 criteria with defined tests, and French practice expects a declared conformance percentage from a real audit. EAA conformity is presumed via EN 301 549 (WCAG 2.1 AA). A WCAG 2.1 AA audit with manual assistive technology testing satisfies the substance of both — the RGAA declaration then documents it in the required French format.
Practical steps
- Determine which regime covers you: Article 47 (public / €250M+), the EAA route (most consumer businesses), or both;
- Run an RGAA/WCAG audit with manual testing — in French, since screen reader output and language attributes matter;
- Publish the déclaration d'accessibilité (and, for Article 47 entities, the multi-year plan) — missing paperwork is separately fineable;
- Remediate the purchase journey first; French courts have shown partial conformance will not shield you;
- Re-audit annually and after redesigns, updating your declared conformance rate.
Also serving Germany or Italy? See our BFSG guide and Stanca Act guide.
How Peradeo can help
Peradeo is a web accessibility company based in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Our IAAP-certified specialists audit websites and web applications against WCAG 2.0, 2.1, and 2.2 AA using real assistive technologies (NVDA, JAWS, VoiceOver), remediate the issues hands-on as developers, and prepare the compliance documentation — including VPAT® / Accessibility Conformance Reports and accessibility statements — that regulators and procurement teams ask for.
- Learn more about our web accessibility audit & remediation services
- Request a free accessibility check of your website
This article is provided for general information only and is not legal advice. Requirements change over time — consult a qualified lawyer for advice about your specific obligations.