BFSG Checklist for Websites
A practical entry aid for website managers: tick off points, assess risks and then use the website audit to check technical finds on real URLs.
Differentiate the scope and technical examination
First place the offer
The BFSG covers certain products and services for consumers, including services in electronic commerce. A website is not only covered by the BFSG because it has a contact form. Decisive are the concrete offer and the legal scope of application. For microenterprises offering or providing services, § 3 paragraph 3 contains an exception. Check this classification before a binding assessment.
Documenting a verifiable status
For an important user path, record the tested pages, the test time and the components involved. In the case of a shop, this could include the selection of a product, the shopping cart and the sending of an order. Keep automatic findings and manually observed obstacles separately. A checked point can only be restrained if it is comprehensible what has been checked and which states are still open. The checklist supports this preparation; it does not certify legal conformity.
Additional documentation: BFSG § 1: Scope of application · BFSG § 3: Requirements and exception
Checklist becomes action plan
The checklist prioritizes preparation. The accessibility website audit complements specific URL examples, selectors, check groups and CSV export for implementation.
Starting a technical auditFrom the BFSG checklist to implementation
The checklist helps to make organizational and technical gaps visible. Risk and user path count for the order: Checkout, contact form, login, price or product pages and support routes should be checked before purely informative archive pages.
Prioritisation in practice
- Capture business-critical page types first
- Complement automated finding with manual keyboard tests
- Define responsible, deadlines and follow-up audit per measure
Next meaningful check
The technical website audit then provides concrete URL examples and turns the checklist into a reliable backlog.
When to prioritize the checklist
First check whether your specific offer falls under the legal scope of application. Regardless, important user channels such as sales, booking and support are useful focal points for a practical accessibility check.
For the implementation, a mix of automatic testing, manual operation and responsibilities makes sense. In this way, progress remains traceable and measures do not disappear into general design or relaunch tasks.