We Tested 100 EU Websites. 95% Aren’t EAA-Ready.

The EAA deadline has arrived, so we asked ourselves: how many websites are actually ready? To find out, we assessed 100 EU websites using the WebYes accessibility checker.

And to our surprise, only 5% passed with a perfect score. (Purely based on automated checks.)

This means 95% failed basic accessibility checks. Not complicated stuff. These are simple issues that could be resolved with minimal effort. Yet they’ve been left unchecked.

So, what’s holding these websites back? Here’s what we found.

95% of Websites Fail Basic Accessibility Requirements

95 out of 100 websites failed basic accessibility checks. Only 5 websites passed with a perfect score, and another 29 did okay but still had minor issues.

To put things into perspective, this means 135 million disabled people in Europe are being locked out of vast majority of websites. They are unable to shop, book services, or even read basic information online because these websites are not built to accommodate their needs.

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The Most Common Accessibility Issues We Found

Many websites failed basic accessibility checks due to a few common issues that kept showing up again and again, including:

• Poor colour contrast
• Vague or missing link text
• Missing alt text for images
• Tiny clickable areas
• Missing page language tag

Let’s look at each of these in more detail.

74% fail colour contrast requirements

Low contrast text (insufficient colour contrast between text and its background) impacts 74% of the home pages evaluated. For users with low vision or color blindness, this makes reading difficult and, in many cases, the website completely unusable.

61% have links with vague or missing text

61% of the pages had links with missing or vague text – phrases like “Click here” or “Read more” that offer no meaningful context. This creates confusion, especially for screen reader users, who rely on clear link descriptions to navigate a page.

33% are missing alt text for images

Alt text was missing on images in 33% of the pages. Without alt text, blind users are left guessing what an image is about — whether it’s a product photo, a key graphic, or an important button. This strips away essential context and functionality.

28% have tiny clickable areas

28% of the pages had tiny clickable areas – buttons, icons, or links that were too small or placed too close together. This makes it unnecessarily difficult for people with motor disabilities, older users, or anyone using a touchscreen to interact with the page properly.

9% are missing a page language tag

A page language tag was missing on 9% of the websites. This small but vital detail tells screen readers how to pronounce words correctly. Without it, users relying on assistive technology are met with mispronunciations and a poor browsing experience.

Your Website Doesn’t Have to Be Part of the 95%

Most websites are still failing basic accessibility requirements. But yours doesn’t have to.

You have the power to make a difference – starting right now. Look at your website through the lens of accessibility. Ask: Is my text readable? Are my links clear? Do my images have alt text? Are buttons easy to click? Fixing these issues is a good start.

But accessibility shouldn’t stop there. The real solution is no longer treating it as an afterthought. When it’s left to the end, it leads to wasted time, higher costs, and major rework. Accessibility needs to shift left – built into design, development, and content from day one.

By doing this, you’re not just avoiding legal risks under the European Accessibility Act (EAA). You’re also helping make the web usable for over 135 million disabled people in Europe. It’s a step toward a more inclusive, equal, and user-friendly internet for everyone.

Start small. Keep improving. An accessible website benefits everyone.

How We Conducted This Accessibility Assessment

For this assessment, we focused on some of the most visited websites in Europe.

We sourced the list from DomainTyper’s Top .EU Websites, which ranks websites based on global traffic data. From this list, we selected 100 domains. Once we had the list, we ran an accessibility audit on each website’s homepage using WebYes.

It’s important to note that this was automated testing only. We did not follow it up with manual audits. Still, the results give a strong snapshot of how prepared – or unprepared – these websites are for the European Accessibility Act (EAA) deadline.