With the European Accessibility Act (EAA) coming into effect in June 2025, digital product content will become available for every consumer, including people with disabilities. This extends to everything from product descriptions and technical information to videos, documents, and navigation elements. Behind this mandate are the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, the benchmark against which accessible digital content is defined.
The Brand’s Responsibility
Within the product content supply chain, accessibility begins at the source: the brand. Brands need to make sure that they provide accurate, organized, and accessible product information, like image alt descriptions, accessible guides, and simple product variant information. The content, once transferred, passes through Icecat’s pipelines and is subsequently published on every sales channel and retailer website.
Our contribution at Icecat is in helping and enabling brands to prepare this content so that it meets accessibility requirements at the channel level. This is where compliance is being tested. Icecat ensures its infrastructure can save and forward accessible information from brands. Furthermore, we enable key technical features like keyboard navigation, screen reader support, and scalable content within our product gallery and templates.
Current Accessibility Features at Icecat
For instance, alt text support for graphics such as Yes/No symbols is being introduced by Icecat now, and also verifying Icecat-created PDFs for accessibility. For product videos, our player does not auto-play and includes keyboard navigation options. This makes it easier for users with assistive technology to access multimedia content. Our HTML templates are also readable, font-optimized, resizable, text-optimized, and layout-optimized for clearness, which is very important for accessible browsing.
But the majority of accessibility features are based on content quality provided by brands themselves. These include documents, warnings, feature descriptions, and language markings. Icecat can host and display product data, but its accessibility ultimately depends on the initial format provided by brands. For instance, if CE markings and user manuals aren’t accessible from the start, Icecat cannot guarantee their proper display in an accessible manner. Therefore, brands play a crucial role in ensuring the accessibility of their source content.
Lastly, the single most significant point of measurement for accessibility compliance lies at the channel level, where final content presentation to consumers happens. Icecat strengthens the middle part of the digital content chain to help brands improve their preparedness for accessibility. This also ensures that accessible content retains its quality when passed on to retailers and marketplaces.
Looking Ahead to June 2025
As June 2025 approaches, Icecat reaffirms its commitment to inclusive design for product content. Our mission is to equip brands with the necessary tools and frameworks for a compliant and seamless accessibility transformation across the entire digital supply chain.
Lilian is a Sustainability and Compliance Specialist who helps ensure your business stays compliant with the latest regulations in the digital shelf space.
