The legislative changes required by the EU Accessibility Directive must be implemented in online stores starting from 28th June 2025. This partially also applies to the online services of car dealerships. Compliance with the law is overseen by Traficom's digital accessibility and inclusivity monitoring unit.

Understandably, in the context of car sales, certain accessibility requirements may seem unusual. Owning and driving a car generally requires some degree of vision and motor skills. However, the spectrum of accessibility limitations is broad, and restrictions related to colour blindness and presbyopia are very relevant to car-related websites as well.

From 28th June 2025, Traficom will independently review the accessibility of online stores and handle consumer complaints. Traficom has the authority to request a report from the operator regarding compliance with accessibility requirements. It can mandate the operator to remedy deficiencies within a set timeframe, take the service under supervision and, as a last resort, impose a conditional fine to enforce compliance.

A car website is often an online store!

According to the Digital Services Act, a service where a customer can create distance sales agreements under the Consumer Protection Act is considered an online store. In the case of car sales, this means booking, ordering cars online and scheduling maintenance services. It does not matter whether payment is made online or later at the dealership, or if final contracts are signed face-to-face.

Accessibility requirements apply only to parts of the online store

According to Traficom's guidelines published on 31st March 2025, the requirements of the law apply only to the service part of the online store. If there is other content on the website that is not considered a service as defined in Chapter 3a of the Digital Services Act, these requirements do not primarily apply to such other content on the website. Thus, the evaluation of the site's accessibility can particularly focus on functionalities equivalent to online shopping, while giving lesser priority to other parts of the site.

Accessibility evaluation and accessibility statement

The first step towards compliance is the evaluation of the online store's accessibility. The service must also include an accessibility statement based on this evaluation. Additionally, users should have the opportunity to provide feedback on accessibility to the operator, and the feedback must be responded to within 14 days. The feedback channel can be an email address or a simple form.

However, mere evaluation and statement are not sufficient; detected errors should certainly be rectified. Nevertheless, an up-to-date accessibility statement is a good initial step that shows users and authorities that the need for improvement has been recognised.

Notification obligation

In the newsletter published on 11th June 2025, Traficom also provided new guidelines on reporting deficiencies of online services. 

If a product or service does not meet accessibility requirements, the operator must report deficiencies and corrective actions to Traficom. The notification can be made at: 
www.saavutettavuusvaatimukset.fi/fi/digital-services-act-requirements/notification-obligation-regarding-deficiencies-and-exemption-reasons
This practically means sending the accessibility statement to Traficom via the accompanying form. It is still unclear what Traficom will do with these notifications.

Need help?

If you are uncertain about the legal compliance of your online service, do not hesitate to get in touch!