A website built with IONOS MyWebsite Now is not accessible or inaccessible because of the builder. IONOS renders the sections and the shop; you decide the heading levels, colours, image descriptions, link texts and embeds. IONOS's own help centre on accessibility is, for the most part, a list of things the site owner has to do [3]. This page separates what the builder does from what stays with you – and starts with whether the law applies to your site at all.
Does the BFSG apply to your MyWebsite site?
If you sell to consumers through the shop in MyWebsite Now, or take bookings and payments online, you provide a "Dienstleistung im elektronischen Geschäftsverkehr" (§ 1(3) no. 5 BFSG), covered since 28 June 2025. The BFSG transposes the European Accessibility Act; other EU countries have equivalent laws [1][2].
Many MyWebsite customers are small businesses, and micro-enterprises that provide services are exempt: fewer than 10 employees and an annual turnover or balance sheet total of no more than €2 million (§ 2 no. 17, § 3(3) BFSG) [1]. Both conditions must be met. How to count staff and what applies inside a group of companies is on our page on the micro-enterprise exemption. A shop that sells only to business customers is not a service to consumers.
Without a shop or booking function it depends. The BFSG covers listed services – e-commerce, banking, telecoms, e-books, passenger transport – and a pure information site of a private company is generally not one of them; a booking or order function on it can be. Public bodies fall under BITV 2.0 instead. More in BFSG for online shops and the BFSG and EAA guide.
What the platform gives you, and what it does not
IONOS currently sells MyWebsite Now in Starter and Plus plans, with the online shop as an extension, and a Website Design Service in which IONOS builds the site for you [10]. This page is about MyWebsite Now; on an older IONOS builder the menus differ.
You get:
- All six heading levels. Each heading has a dropdown from H1 to H6, and IONOS recommends one H1 per page with no skipped levels [5].
- Contrast controls. Under Design → Colour you can raise the contrast intensity of the palette or define your own colours [4].
- Fields for alternatives. Images and every gallery image take alt text under Details [6]; Google Maps, YouTube and code-snippet embeds take a title [7].
- An integrated shop. MyWebsite Now plans with the integrated shop are managed in the Presence Suite, including an electronic withdrawal function you switch on and link from the header or footer [9].
You do not get:
- Filled-in fields. Every one of those fields starts empty or at the template's default. IONOS's help lists alt text, headings, contrast, link and button labels, embedded documents and an accessibility statement as the site owner's tasks [3].
- Control over generated markup. Sections, menus and shop pages are rendered by IONOS; you configure them, you do not edit their HTML.
- Checked AI output. The AI website generator builds a homepage and up to four subpages from a short description, with generated text and images [11]. Nothing in it guarantees sensible heading levels or image descriptions.
- Coverage from IONOS's own statement. IONOS's accessibility page covers its own website and customer area [12], not the sites its customers build.
What we find on MyWebsite sites
Headings chosen for their size
Sections arrive with headings already in place, and on AI-generated pages nobody chose their levels. The result is a page with two H1s, an H4 under an H2, or a title set as bold text that never appears in a screen reader's list of headings. The H1–H6 dropdown fixes it in minutes [5] – once somebody looks.
Palettes that pass the eye test only
A palette can look calm and still put light grey text on white or white text on a pale photo. IONOS offers a contrast intensity setting and custom colours for exactly this [4]; the check has to happen on buttons, links and text over images, not just on body text.
"Learn more" links and untitled embeds
IONOS itself warns against link and button texts like "Next" or "Learn more" [7]. A page with six identical buttons tells a screen-reader user nothing about where each one leads. Maps, videos and code snippets without a title are announced as an unnamed frame.
Cookie banner and third-party code
Consent tools, booking widgets and chat windows added as code snippets bring their own markup. Test each with a keyboard: can you reach it, operate it and close it, and does focus return to the page?
Shop pages, cart and the withdrawal button
Product images need alt text, variant choices must work without a mouse, and "Add to cart" should say that something happened. The electronic withdrawal function asks for an order number and an email address [9] – a small form, and like every form in the shop it needs labels, keyboard operation and a link people can find.
Embedded documents
Price lists, menus and brochures are often embedded as PDFs. IONOS lists embedded documents among the accessibility topics [3]. A PDF needs its own tags and reading order, and an automated web check does not open it.
Where to look first
| Criterion | Why on MyWebsite Now | Automation |
|---|---|---|
| 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A) | Preset and AI-generated heading levels | Partly automated |
| 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (AA) | Palette, text over images | Automated |
| 1.1.1 Non-text Content (A) | Images, galleries, product images | Partly automated |
| 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) (A) | "Learn more" buttons | Partly automated |
| 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (A) | Maps, videos, code snippets without title | Partly automated |
| 1.2.2 Captions (Prerecorded) (A) | Embedded videos | Manual only |
| 2.4.3 Focus Order (A) | Mobile menu, cart, consent banner | Partly automated |
| 4.1.3 Status Messages (AA) | "Add to cart" | Manual only |
| 3.3.1 Error Identification (A) | Contact form, checkout, withdrawal form | Manual only |
"Automated": a rule decides the criterion alone. "Partly automated": a rule finds some failures, a person judges the rest. All criteria: WCAG 2.2 AA, criterion by criterion.
A sensible order of work
- Settle the scope. Is there a shop or booking function, and are you a micro-enterprise? If the BFSG does not apply, the steps below still help your customers, just without a deadline.
- Fix the palette once. Raise the contrast intensity or set custom colours, then check buttons and text over images [4].
- Set heading levels page by page. One H1, then H2 and H3 in order – especially on pages the AI generator wrote [5][11].
- Fill every alternative. Alt text on images, gallery images and products; titles on maps, videos and code snippets; link texts that name the destination [6][7].
- List third-party code and documents. Test each snippet with a keyboard; check PDFs separately or offer the content as a page.
- Walk the shop by hand. Product → variant → cart → checkout → payment in test mode, then the withdrawal form. What you cannot change goes to IONOS support and into your accessibility information as a known limitation.
What Reviseberg checks on MyWebsite – and what you still test yourself
Reviseberg crawls your published site, shop pages included, and runs every axe-core rule on every page at a desktop width of 1280 pixels, then repeats the rules that change with the layout – contrast and target size among them – at 360 pixels. Results are mapped to WCAG 2.2 A/AA and EN 301 549. Findings are grouped into issues by rule and ranked by the points you gain by fixing them, so a weak palette is one issue on every page rather than one entry per page. Where the cause sits in markup only IONOS can change, you mark the issue "can't fix" with a reason, and it stays on record.
The keyboard agent opens the pages of a journey you name – say the homepage and a product page – and presses Tab, Shift+Tab and Escape through each of them, recording every step. It reports unreachable elements, lost or invisible focus, missing skip links and keyboard traps. It does not fill in forms or place an order, so the checkout and the withdrawal form are yours to walk by hand. The free report covers up to 100 pages and runs the keyboard agent on one page you choose. PDF documents are not checked.
For missing alt text, Reviseberg suggests wording; a person decides what goes back into the site, and nothing is applied automatically. You still test some things yourself: whether alt text describes the image, whether error messages make sense, and how the site behaves with a screen reader and zoom. Screen-reader, zoom and voice-control agents are not built yet; for those criteria the platform gives you guided manual tests, and a criterion nobody has tested is reported as untested, never as passed. We never inject an overlay script.
Written to be useful, not as legal advice. As of 27 September 2026.