Web accessibility has become an unavoidable priority for any company with a digital presence, including car brands, especially since the entry into force of the European Accessibility Act (Directive 2019/882). This requires that digital portals be accessible to all people, including those with disabilities. But, to what extent do the main brands in the automotive sector comply with this requirement?
With this question in mind, we have carried out a detailed analysis of the official websites of car manufacturers, applying the main international accessibility standards. The objective: identify who is leading in digital accessibility… and who still has much to improve.
Toyota
6.9 – Level of adequacy: Partially compliant (A)
Toyota leads the ranking with the best overall score. Despite this, it presents recurring errors in headers, semantic structure, poorly labeled forms and consistency errors in navigation. The implementation of ARIA can still improve, but it is one of the few brands that shows a clear effort in structural accessibility.
Peugeot
6.2 – Level of adequacy: Partially compliant (Invalid)
Peugeot demonstrates a certain maturity in accessibility, although essential elements such as language identification, logical headers and structural adaptability fail on different devices.
Renault
6.1 – Level of adequacy: Partially compliant (Invalid)
Renault has problems with separation between content and presentation, errors in descriptive links and an inconsistent header structure, although it has worked to ensure basic compatibility with assistive technologies.
Volkswagen
5.9 – Level of adequacy: Partially compliant (Invalid)
Volkswagen’s site lacks proper hierarchical headers and shows multiple glitches in multilingual navigation. Although the design is visually appealing, it is not entirely aligned with functional accessibility.
Audi
5.8 – Level of adequacy: Partially compliant (Invalid)
Audi repeats several errors detected in other brands of the group: poor use of textual alternatives, incomplete ARIA tags and inconsistent navigation. Still, some interactive components are well designed.
Dacia
5.8 – Level of adequacy: Partially compliant (Invalid)
Despite being a cheaper brand, Dacia ties with Audi. However, its forms and semantic groupings are less well resolved. Contrast and adaptive navigation need urgent improvements.
Skoda
3.8 – Level of adequacy: Not compliant
Accessibility on the Skoda portal is poor. The site fails in device independence, poorly defined titles, lack of headers and unclear navigation, which seriously affects users with special needs.
Kia
3.7 – Level of adequacy: Not compliant
Kia occupies the last place in the ranking. Your website presents severe errors in structures, keyboard navigation, use of lists and general compatibility with assistive technologies. Adaptive layout problems and redundant links were also detected.
Summary Table Level of Web Accessibility in Car Brands
| POSITION | BRAND | LEVEL OF SUITABILITY | AVERAGE WEBSITE SCORE | COMPLIANCE SITUATION | ACCESSIBILITY STATEMENT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toyota | A | 6.90 | Partially compliant | Invalid |
| 2 | Peugeot | Invalid | 6.20 | Partially compliant | Invalid |
| 3 | Renault | Invalid | 6.10 | Partially compliant | Invalid |
| 4 | Volkswagen | Invalid | 5.90 | Partially compliant | Invalid |
| 5 | Audi | Invalid | 5.80 | Partially compliant | Invalid |
| 6 | Dacia | Invalid | 5.80 | Partially compliant | Invalid |
| 7 | Skoda | Invalid | 3.80 | Not compliant | Invalid |
| 8 | Kia | Invalid | 3.70 | Not compliant | Invalid |
After this analysis, we can affirm that the websites of the largest car brands that operate in Spain have problems in terms of accessibility, being these partially compliant or even non-compliant with European regulations.
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This analysis has been carried out manually, but in addition, it has had the support of the observatory tool to contrast the review carried out, so the notes obtained have resulted from a review where some of the most notable criteria in accessibility have been taken into account:
- Cannot navigate with the keyboard
- There are images without alt
- Headers are misused, there are header breaks and missing main headers
- There are contrast problems
- Forms do not have labels
- There is redundancy of links
Analysis of good practices
The best positioned car brands tend to share certain good practices:
- Use of consistent navigation in all sections.
- Forms with correctly associated labels.
- Well-defined alt texts for functional images.
- Implementation (although partial) of ARIA roles and labels attributes.
- Be careful with color contrast, especially in buttons and links.
Relevance of legal compliance
From June 2025, all companies offering digital products or services in the EU will have to comply with the European Accessibility Act. This includes car manufacturers that allow:
- Online test drive reservations
- Vehicle configuration and purchase
- Access to maintenance or after-sales services through the web portal
Non-compliance can lead to financial penalties, loss of customers and a poor digital reputation.
Conclusion
Although some car brands are beginning to stand out in web accessibility, none have yet achieved full compliance with current standards, which reflects the long road that still remains to be traveled in the automotive sector.
Accessibility is not just a legal obligation: it is an opportunity for inclusion, innovation and improvement of the user experience for everyone.
