In short and in plain language
This article is about a German law on access for all. It means that everyone can use a site well.
The law does not apply to every business. Very small firms that only do services are usually left out. That is true for many trade firms.
Do you also sell goods on your site? Then have your case checked. Ask a lawyer about your own case.
The legal notice and privacy rules still apply. The exemption only covers this one law.
Good contrast, big tap areas, clear form fields and use by keyboard help all. We build websites that are easy to use from the start.
Few topics have produced as many circulars, sales letters and worried phone calls in recent months as the German Accessibility Strengthening Act, the Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz or BFSG for short. It has applied since the summer of 2025, and ever since, trade businesses have been receiving offers that give the impression every business website now has to be rebuilt or trouble will follow. The act itself reads more soberly. It names a scope, it defines who counts as a microbusiness, and it expressly exempts a considerable share of businesses. This article works through the two decisive passages in their original wording, sets out who they cover and who they do not, and then names the uncomfortable part of the exemption: it releases you from the accessibility duty under this act, not from everything else, and it is no reason to run a website that is hard to use. Written factually, without scare tactics, and with the clear note that judging a specific case belongs in legal advice, not in a blog article.
Key takeaways
- A microbusiness under the BFSG is a business with fewer than ten employed persons and at most 2 million euros in annual turnover or annual balance sheet total (BFSG). The great majority of trade businesses sit below that threshold.
- Section 3 (3) sentence 1 BFSG exempts microbusinesses that offer or provide services from the accessibility duty. For a business that provides trade services only, that exemption applies as a rule.
- The exemption covers the BFSG alone. The legal notice under section 5 DDG, a privacy policy, proper consent in the contact form and the obligations arising from contracts initiated through the website all remain untouched.
- As soon as a business also sells products through its website, treating the offering as a pure service is no longer self-evident. That constellation deserves professional review before anyone relies on the exemption.
- Contrast, tap targets that are large enough, labelled form fields and keyboard operability are not a surcharge when a website is built, but a matter of care. They help anyone typing one-handed on a phone in the evening.
What the Accessibility Strengthening Act is actually about
The BFSG transposes a European directive into German law. Its subject matter is certain products and certain services intended for consumers: cash machines and ticket machines, computers and telephones, e-book readers, telecommunications services, consumer banking services, passenger transport and electronic commerce, meaning the sale of goods and services through a website or an application. The act lists these areas. Nowhere does it say that every website in Germany has to be accessible. That shortcut comes from marketing copy, not from the statute book.
For a trade business the first question is therefore a different one from contrast ratios: does your own website touch any of the areas named at all, and if so, does the exemption for small businesses apply? Only once both questions are answered is the technical discussion worth having. Anyone who reverses the order tends to buy an assessment they do not need while overlooking the obligations that genuinely do apply to them.
A look at the scale helps with the classification. In Germany 1,038,126 (ZDH 2025) businesses are entered in the trade registers and the register of trade-like activities, and 94 percent (Bitkom 2025) of the trade businesses surveyed run their own website. If the BFSG were as sweeping as some letters suggest, it would amount to a rebuilding programme for a million websites within a few months. That is precisely why the act contains a threshold.
What this article does not do
Who counts as a microbusiness: the wording
The first decisive passage sits among the definitions. Section 2 no. 17 BFSG sets out what the act understands by a microbusiness: a business that employs fewer than ten persons and that either achieves an annual turnover of at most 2 million euros or whose annual balance sheet total amounts to at most 2 million euros. The sentence is short, and it is worth reading in the original, because second-hand renderings regularly shift a word in a way that changes the meaning.
ein Unternehmen, das weniger als zehn Personen beschäftigt und das entweder einen Jahresumsatz von höchstens 2 Millionen Euro erzielt oder dessen Jahresbilanzsumme sich auf höchstens 2 Millionen Euro beläuft
Three points matter here. First, the headcount is a hard line: fewer than ten persons, not ten or fewer. A business with ten employees is no longer a microbusiness under this definition. Second, the two financial figures are linked as alternatives, visible in the words either and or: it is enough for one of them to sit below 2 million euros. Third, the headcount is joined by an and. It must therefore be met in every case, even where turnover and balance sheet total are small.
In practice that means a painting business with seven journeymen and one office worker sits below the line. An electrical contractor with twelve employees sits above it, regardless of turnover. The legal form is not decisive when counting persons, but actual employment is, which is why part-time staff, casual workers, apprentices and working family members deserve a closer look. Anyone near the threshold should establish the figure properly rather than estimate it.
- Establish the number of employed persons at the relevant date, including part-time staff, casual workers and apprentices.
- Use the annual turnover of the last completed financial year, excluding value added tax.
- As an alternative, check the annual balance sheet total where turnover sits above the limit.
- Record the result in writing with a date, so the assessment remains traceable later.
- Where a figure sits close to the threshold, involve your tax adviser before settling on a classification.
The exemption for services: the second wording
The second decisive passage sits in the scope provision. Section 3 (1) BFSG requires services to be offered and provided accessibly. Sentence 1 of subsection 3 exempts some of those providers, and the sentence is so brief that it fits on a single line: subsection 1 does not apply to microbusinesses that offer or provide services.
Absatz 1 gilt nicht für Kleinstunternehmen, die Dienstleistungen anbieten oder erbringen.
Put together, this gives the line most trade businesses can navigate by: anyone employing fewer than ten persons, staying below the financial thresholds and offering or providing services is exempt from the duty in subsection 1. A heating engineer who plans, installs and maintains systems is providing a service. The website describes that service, names the ways to get in touch and leads to a phone call or a form. For that constellation the exemption applies as a rule.
What the exemption does not do is just as notable. It says nothing about products. It says nothing about the remaining obligations of a business. And it contains no sentence that justifies a website which is hard to use. It is a relief provision for small providers of services, so that the effort does not sit out of proportion to the size of the business. Nothing more is written there, and nothing less either.
An exemption is not a free pass
Where the exemption ends: as soon as a product is involved
The exemption speaks of services. It therefore covers the classic case: the business is called out, turns up, works and issues an invoice. It gets complicated once the website does more than describe that work. A joinery that sells finished furniture through a shopping basket alongside its interior fitting is operating in a different area. So is a roofer who ships spare parts. Exactly where the line runs depends on the specific offering and is not a question that can be answered across the board.
There is a third source of requirements that has nothing to do with the BFSG at all: contracts. Anyone working for public sector clients occasionally finds accessibility written into a tender or into the contractual terms. That duty then arises from the contract rather than from the act, and it applies regardless of the size of the business. Anyone taking part in such procedures regularly should measure their own website against what is demanded there.
| Constellation | Duty under the BFSG? | What follows from it |
|---|---|---|
| Business under ten employees, trade services only, website as a calling card with a contact form | As a rule no | Exemption under section 3 (3) sentence 1; the remaining obligations stay in place |
| Business with ten or more employed persons | The exemption does not apply | The requirements for the service offered need to be examined |
| Microbusiness that also sells goods through the website | No longer a pure service | Have the specific case reviewed professionally before deciding |
| Accessibility written into a public tender | Independent of the BFSG | The duty follows from the contract and applies regardless of size |
| Website without contrast, without labels, without keyboard operation | Possibly lawful | Costs enquiries from people who cannot find their way around the site |
The last row of the table is the uncomfortable one. Lawful and commercially sensible are two different yardsticks. A site that nobody but the owner can operate comfortably may breach no statute and still cost work. Which building blocks carry a trade website is set out in our overview of services.
What applies despite the exemption
The most common misreading after section 3 (3) runs: so I do not have to do anything. That holds for this one act and for nothing else. The obligations of a business website come from several areas of law that apply independently of one another and are enforced independently of one another. Throwing them together means saving in the wrong place.
- Legal notice under section 5 of the German Digital Services Act: easily recognisable, directly accessible and permanently available, with address, a way to get in touch, legal form, register details and, where applicable, the VAT identification number as well as details of the competent chamber and the professional title.
- A privacy policy under the General Data Protection Regulation that matches the processing actually taking place, rather than a template borrowed from another business.
- Consent and purpose limitation in the contact form, including a defined period after which enquiries that did not lead to work are deleted.
- Price information wherever prices are shown, with a clear statement on value added tax and the reference quantity.
- Contractual obligations for anything actually concluded through the website, such as pre-contractual information duties and the right of withdrawal in distance selling.
- Requirements from contracts with clients who set their own conditions for how a business presents itself.
These points are not a project but a list you work through properly once and then keep an eye on. The effort is a morning if the details are in order, and a week if nobody knows where the texts came from. What belongs to ongoing care is described on our pricing page.
A second observation from practice: the businesses worrying about the BFSG frequently have a different problem, and an older one. The legal notice still dates from before the Digital Services Act, the privacy policy names services that were removed long ago, and the form lacks any note on the purpose of the processing. Anyone opening the legal texts anyway should tidy that corner at the same time.
Why the four measures are worth it anyway
Accessibility sounds like a special case and is the normal case in daily use. Most of what is discussed under that heading concerns situations in which every visitor sees badly or aims badly: a building site in bright sun, a phone in one hand and a coffee cup in the other, a glance over reading glasses in the evening, a weak mobile signal out in the countryside. Building for those cases means building for people with permanent impairments along the way.
Customer expectations pull in the same direction. 74 percent (Bitkom 2025) of the trade businesses surveyed find that customers have become more critical, and 85 percent (Bitkom 2025) see a clear wish for constant availability. Both hit the website in the same place: it has to work in the evening, on the move and on a small screen. That is exactly what the measures discussed here deliver.
Contrast
Text has to stand out clearly from its background. A contrast ratio of 4.5 to 1 for normal text and 3 to 1 for large type and interactive elements serves as the guide value.
Tap targets
Buttons and links need enough area to be hit with a thumb. Around 44 by 44 pixels is a common guide value, with spacing from the neighbouring element.
Labels
Every form field needs a visible label that stays put. Placeholder text inside the field disappears as soon as someone starts typing and is therefore not a label.
Keyboard operation
Everything reachable with a mouse has to be reachable with the tab key as well, in a sensible order and with a visible focus ring showing where you currently are.
Structure
One top heading per page as an H1, with H2 and H3 following in logical order beneath it. Screen readers and search engines read the same structure, for different purposes.
Alternative text
Images that carry meaning need alternative text conveying that meaning. Purely decorative images get empty alternative text so that they are not read aloud.
None of these six points is an optional extra you add to an order. They are decisions taken while building anyway: a colour gets chosen, a button gets a size, a form field gets a label. The only question is whether anyone is paying attention while it happens. Where those decisions show up in the design is set out on our services page.
Contrast: where it most often falls down
When a trade website breaks down at one point, it is usually contrast. The reason is rarely carelessness but taste: light grey type on a white ground looks calm and modern on a good screen in a shaded office. On a phone outdoors it disappears. The same goes for white type on a bright photograph, for thin weights at small sizes and for coloured buttons whose labels sit close to the shade of the surface behind them.
The test for this is unspectacular. You take your own phone, step outside into the sun and open your own home page. Whatever is unreadable there is not comfortably readable on any device; it simply goes unnoticed indoors. There are calculated values for a precise assessment, but the decision is usually made out on the car park.
Two values are enough as a reminder
Tap targets, labels and keyboard operation
The second large block concerns operation. On a phone, the size of the target area decides whether somebody dials the number or misses and scrolls the page instead. Particularly vulnerable are links sitting close together in body text, menu items with tight line spacing, and buttons that look large but whose clickable area covers only the text. To test your own business, try the three most important paths one-handed: call, open the form, find the service.
Labels are the second place where many forms stumble. If the field name appears only as placeholder text inside the input, it disappears the moment somebody starts typing. Anyone interrupted because a colleague calls out then finds a half-filled field in the form with no indication of what belongs in it. For screen readers the situation is even plainer: without an associated label, the field is simply unnamed.
Error messages belong to the same family. A red border on its own says nothing to someone who cannot distinguish red from green. The message needs text, it belongs next to the field concerned, and it should name what to do rather than state that something is wrong. Which fields an enquiry form in the trades actually needs is a separate question, and the answer combines well with these rules.
The tab key as a test tool
This check takes only a few minutes and, in our experience, uncovers more than a long list of automated findings (project experience). It does not replace a thorough assessment, but it shows immediately whether anyone gave the matter a thought.
How a business works through this in order
From the two passages of wording and the four technical points comes an order of work that gets by without alarm. It starts with classification rather than rebuilding, because otherwise effort arises that nobody is asking for.
Establish your classification
Determine headcount, turnover and balance sheet total and compare them with the definition in section 2 no. 17 BFSG. Note the result with a date so that it stays traceable later.
Look at your offering
Check whether the website presents trade services only or whether goods are sold alongside them. In the second constellation, seek legal advice before making any decision.
Tidy up the legal texts
Check the legal notice, privacy policy and form notices against the actual state of the business. These obligations apply regardless of your classification under the BFSG.
Test usability yourself
Read the home page on a phone in the sun, walk the three most important paths one-handed and run through the site once using the tab key alone. Note the findings rather than debating them.
Carry it into the next rebuild
Settle contrast, tap targets, labels and focus rings from the outset at your next relaunch. Retrofitted afterwards, the same result costs a multiple.
Determine headcount, turnover and balance sheet total and compare them with the definition in section 2 no. 17 BFSG. Note the result with a date so that it stays traceable later.
Check whether the website presents trade services only or whether goods are sold alongside them. In the second constellation, seek legal advice before making any decision.
Check the legal notice, privacy policy and form notices against the actual state of the business. These obligations apply regardless of your classification under the BFSG.
Read the home page on a phone in the sun, walk the three most important paths one-handed and run through the site once using the tab key alone. Note the findings rather than debating them.
Settle contrast, tap targets, labels and focus rings from the outset at your next relaunch. Retrofitted afterwards, the same result costs a multiple.
Anyone who has these five steps behind them can answer the BFSG question calmly, even when the next sales letter arrives. The classification is on paper, the legal texts are in order, and the website can be used because it should be, not because somebody waved a statute.
What it costs and what it does not
On a newly built website the four technical points carry no surcharge. Contrast arises when the colours are chosen, tap targets when the buttons are sized, labels when the form is built, focus rings when the states are designed. Anyone taking those decisions from the outset pays nothing extra for them. With us a website for a trade business starts at a fixed price of 1,490 euros net, a relaunch of an existing site from 2,900 euros net, with the scope agreed in writing before the commission. The overview is on our pricing page.
It only gets expensive in one case: when an existing website whose structure never considered these points has to be rebuilt afterwards. Colour values, spacing and form structure then hang off places that take effect everywhere at once, and every correction pulls the next one along behind it. That is the real reason care during construction pays off, rather than the prospect of a fine that does not threaten an exempt microbusiness in the first place.
Running costs stated plainly
The specific case still needs checking
The two passages quoted in this article are clear; applying them to a particular business is not always. Borderline cases arise for businesses near the threshold of ten persons, for mixed offerings of service and goods, for shareholdings and affiliated companies, and everywhere other requirements apply alongside the BFSG. In those cases a legal assessment is the cheaper option, measured against what a wrong self-assessment can bring with it.
What works without legal help is the stocktake: establish the figures, describe the offering, check the legal texts, use the website yourself. That groundwork keeps an advisory meeting short and therefore inexpensive. If you find in the process that the website snags in several places, we are glad to talk through what can be fixed in the existing site and what argues for building anew: contact.
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