How Sharetribe helps you with accessibility regulation compliance

In 2025, the European Union introduced web accessibility regulation. The goal is to make the web inclusive for everyone.

Web accessibility touches everyone who uses the internet. It’s a practice that ensures everyone can use websites regardless of disability or socio-economic restrictions. Accessibility features like clear navigation, better contrast, and captions make the user experience better for everyone.

So, if your marketplace serves customers in Europe, now is a great time to figure out if your marketplace is affected by the European Accessibility Act (EAA). The EAA applies to the websites of businesses that:

• Provide digital services 
• Have customers in the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA)
• Are not microenterprises (i.e. have fewer than 10 employees and under €2M in revenue annually)

Since June 28, 2025, newly launched websites that match these criteria have to meet specific accessibility requirements. Existing websites have until June 28, 2030. 

As a founder building on Sharetribe, you’re in a good position. We’ve made extensive updates that have made Sharetribe-powered marketplaces more accessible than ever before.

In this newsletter, you'll learn about:

• How we’ve improved Sharetribe’s accessibility 
• How you can continue working on your website’s accessibility
• What the EAA is and how it affects your marketplace

Sharetribe and accessibility

In the past year, we’ve improved accessibility in many parts of Sharetribe. Here’s a list of the accessibility improvements to Sharetribe from this year, made in accordance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA requirements.

Navigation and keyboard controls

• Added keyboard shortcuts (arrow keys, Enter, Escape, etc.) throughout the platform so users can navigate without a mouse
• Improved focus indicators so users can see which element they're interacting with
• When closing menus or pop-ups, the focus returns to where you were before, making keyboard navigation smoother

Visual improvements

• Increased default color contrast across the platform for better readability
• Made many buttons and interactive elements larger and easier to tap on mobile devices
• Improved focus highlighting on filters and form fields

Screen reader support

• Added descriptive labels to icons, buttons, and interactive elements so screen readers can announce what they do
• Converted generic containers into proper semantic elements (like navigation menus and lists) that assistive technologies recognize
• Added missing page landmarks (main content area, navigation, etc.) to help users orient themselves
• Added descriptive labels to image upload and removal buttons

Search and filtering

• Made all search filters fully keyboard-accessible
• Improved how filters open and close with better focus management
• Made category selection fully navigable with arrow keys
• Communicate to screen readers that search filters update automatically without clicking apply

Page structure

• Unified page titles with main headings for consistency
• Turned search results to be a proper list using semantic HTML elements.
• Added "skip to main content" functionality for faster navigation

How Sharetribe helps you with accessibility

These updates make Sharetribe-powered marketplaces running on the latest version of Sharetribe Web Template substantially more accessible than before. We’ve also been making Console more accessible. If you’ve noticed some changes to things like colors and keyboard access recently, this is why! We also made accessibility testing a permanent part of our development process for new features and will continue improving accessibility as we notice issues.

To audit accessibility in Sharetribe Web Template, we used AInspector for WCAG Accessibility Evaluation and addressed the problems it discovered. In addition, we reviewed keyboard navigation and improved it to better match the WCAG 2.1 Level AA requirements . 

However, since it’s possible our audits missed something, your Sharetribe marketplace might not be 100% compliant yet. Also, you can always make unique adjustments to colors and images in Sharetribe, and those may or may not be fully accessible. And if you've customized your marketplace with code, those customizations may have introduced accessibility issues. So, if your business is affected by the EAA, we recommend reviewing your platform’s accessibility. Our article on the EAA helps you with the process and lists tools we recommend.

If you notice accessibility issues in Sharetribe that should be addressed, please let us know! It helps us prioritize the remaining work.

Update your marketplace texts

The accessibility updates introduced new marketplace texts to Sharetribe. Copy the new marketplace texts and paste them into your marketplace text editor. 

Learn more about the EAA

You can learn more about the European Accessibility Act in Marketplace Academy. Even if you’re exempt, it’s good to be aware of the regulation and best practices in accessibility.

The article discusses, among other things:

• What the compliance deadlines are and what happens if you don't meet them
• Why you should consider voluntary compliance even if you're exempt—because accessibility isn't just about regulation
• The four core principles of accessibility: perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust
• How to audit your marketplace for accessibility using both automated tools and manual checks

Whether compliance is mandatory for you or not, now's a great time to audit your site and understand where you stand. The article includes our recommended auditing process, complete with tool recommendations and tips for catching issues that automated tools might miss. Read it now!