Real Cookie Banner is accessible as of version 3.10. This means that even the first steps on your website are accessible for people with different disabilities and limitations! In this article we explain why your website including Cookie Banner should be accessible, in what way Real Cookie Banner is accessible and what you as a website owner have to consider when setting up your Cookie Banner in terms of accessibility.
Fulfillment of accessibility as a legal obligation
Accessibility on websites is required by law for almost all European businesses, freelancers and self-employed people from 28 June 2025 under the European accessibility act (EAA), which is an directive of the EU. Most of the time, your cookie banner is the first impression of your website, so it needs to be accessible to people with disabilities. Therefore, we have brought Real Cookie Banner in line with the renowned standard WCAG 2.2 in terms of perceptibility, usability, comprehensibility and robustness, making it, in our opinion, accessible according to the European accessibility act. Only microenterprises – enterprises which employ fewer than 10 persons and which have an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 2 million or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding EUR 2 million – are exempt from mandatory implementation under the directive.
Our goal is to enable you, the website owner, to provide an equal and barrier-free experience for all your website visitors. This is to ensure that all users, including people with disabilities, have equal access to information and functionality.
What is the WCAG accessibility standard?
WCAG stands for “Web Content Accessibility Guidelines”. It is a collection of recommendations from the World Wide Web Consortium, the most important international standardization organization for the Internet, to make web content more accessible for people with disabilities.
In August 2023, the version 2.2 of the standard was released, which is currently the benchmark for web accessibility. The standard is divided into three levels of accessibility A (least accessible), AA and AAA (most accessible). In practice, level AA is usually a realistically achievable goal and also the level that is sufficient for accessibility according to the European accessibility act. You can find more explanations and references to the WCAG on the website of the World Wide Web Consortium.
Real Cookie Banner aims to be accessible according to WCAG 2.2 Level AA standard. Below we explain in which areas we have designed Real Cookie Banner to be accessible. If you ever notice something that you think is inaccessible, feel free to contact our support!
The presets for the color contrast of the Real Cookie Banner are designed to make it easier to see, even for people with color vision problems. In the customizer, where you can change the outer appearance of the cookie banner, we have also included information on whether your customized design meets the accessibility standard or whether you need to change something. We also calculate an accessibility score for you, which tells you how accessible your design is. We explained how to change the design of your cookie banner in another article.
Real Cookie Banner can be controlled entirely from the keyboard, which is especially advantageous for users who cannot or do not want to use a mouse. This also means that Real Cookie Banner is accessible to so-called “screen readers”, as all objects, links and texts can be recognized and read aloud. So a visually impaired or blind person can navigate through the Cookie Banner using keyboard commands alone, understanding what performs with which function.
Comprehensibility: Clear and simple language
The texts of the Real Cookie Banner are kept in the clearest and simplest language possible to ensure that all users can easily understand the content. Therefore, if you want to customize texts in the Cookie Banner, you should always make sure to continue using clear and simple language.
Robustness: Technical standards met
Real Cookie Banner also meets the criterion of robustness. Robustness means that the provided content works with the user agents used, especially the web browser, and assistive technologies, such as screen readers. This requires adherence to content creation standards, including correct syntax and consistent use of HTML.
Why should you make your entire website accessible?
Aside from the fact that it’s a good thing to give everyone access to the Internet and ultimately to your website, it can help your business. This is because an accessible website reaches a wider audience and improves its search engine rankings. In PageSpeed Insights from Google, accessibility has its own score! In addition to the moral and business reasons, however, it is also a legal requirement under the new European accessibility act to offer an accessible website in the European Union.
Real Cookie Banner is fundamentally accessible and meets the criteria of the recognized standard WCAG 2.2, so that all your website visitors can use your website without restrictions. All our design templates are created to meet the specifications of perceptibility, usability, comprehensibility and robustness.
This means that you usually don’t need to do anything other than check that you’re using the latest version of Real Cookie Banner and that you’re using one of our design templates.
If you have designed your cookie banner yourself, see Cookies > Customize banner for the accessibility score. It shows you how accessible your cookie banner is and gives you practical advice on what you need to change to make your cookie banner accessible.