# Who actually checks whether our site is accessible, and what happens after a complaint? | Illia BizTech > A visitor emailed saying the checkout cannot be used with a screen reader and said he would report it. Since then the company has been expecting an official visit. Source: https://illia-biztech.de/en/forum/wer-kontrolliert-eigentlich-ob-unsere-seite-barrierefrei-ist-und-was-passiert-bei-einer-beschwerde 1. [Home](/en) 2. [Forum](/en/forum) 3. Who actually checks whether our site is accessible, and what happens after a complaint? # Who actually checks whether our site is accessible, and what happens after a complaint? A visitor emailed saying the checkout cannot be used with a screen reader and said he would report it. Since then the company has been expecting an official visit. * ##### Asked by BrightRampart786 * ##### Asked on August 22, 2026 In the middle of August we had an email from a visitor. He wrote that our checkout cannot be used with a screen reader and that he would report it. We did not reply because nobody knew what you are supposed to write in that situation. Since then everyone here assumes someone from the authorities will turn up shortly. Online I found two versions, one about an authority and one about competitors sending warning letters, and both sound equally alarming. We are a shop with just under 30 people and have done nothing about accessibility since the site was rebuilt in 2023. #### Answers ![Portrait of Illia Belichenko, technical specialist at Illia BizTech](/_ipx/f_webp,q_75/https://cms.illia-biztech.de/uploads/small_Illia_Belichenko_author_81f88864f0.png) ##### Illia Belichenko ✓ Accepted answer August 23, 2026 Nobody turns up. The process runs in writing, and it starts exactly the way yours already has. The body responsible is the Marktüberwachungsstelle der Länder für die Barrierefreiheit von Produkten und Dienstleistungen (MLBF), the accessibility watchdog the federal states run jointly, and it has [its own reporting form](https://www.mlbf-barrierefrei.de/). A single user is enough: under [Section 32(1) BFSG](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bfsg/%5F%5F32.html) the authority must open proceedings on a consumer's application. Subsection 2 allows recognised associations to do the same, even where they are not themselves affected. So the man who emailed you does not need anyone backing him. That makes this an exchange of letters rather than a raid. The authority asks, you answer, it assesses, and if something is missing you get a deadline to put it right. Fines sit at the end, not the beginning: [Section 37(2) BFSG](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bfsg/%5F%5F37.html) sets two tiers, up to one hundred thousand euros for certain breaches and up to ten thousand for the rest. For you that carries one uncomfortable consequence and one useful one. The uncomfortable one: [Section 14(4) BFSG](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bfsg/%5F%5F14.html) requires you to take corrective measures yourself once you know about non-conformity, and to inform the authority. You now know, and you cannot un-know it. The useful one: anyone who can produce a dated plan with priorities stands in a very different position in that correspondence than someone with nothing to show. Do reply to the sender, briefly and without legal prose: that you take the report seriously, what you are checking and by when, and how he can order in the meantime, by phone or email. That is not politeness, it is the cheapest version of this whole episode. Whether warning letters from competitors hold up has not been settled in court, and the sums circulating online come from marketing copy written by law firms and agencies. I would not let them drive a decision, or a panic. The checkout is the right place to start in any case. A shop with thirty staff is covered by the act, and the basket and payment steps are exactly where unusable controls cost you revenue directly. ##### #### [The quote was 6,000 euros and the invoice came to 9,500\. Do we have to pay it?](/en/forum/das-angebot-lag-bei-6-000-euro-die-rechnung-kam-auf-9-500-mussen-wir-das-zahlen) September 5, 2026 [](/en/forum/das-angebot-lag-bei-6-000-euro-die-rechnung-kam-auf-9-500-mussen-wir-das-zahlen) #### [The confirmation email from our contact form lands in customers' spam. Why?](/en/forum/die-bestatigungsmail-aus-unserem-kontaktformular-landet-bei-kunden-im-spam-woran-liegt-das) September 4, 2026 [](/en/forum/die-bestatigungsmail-aus-unserem-kontaktformular-landet-bei-kunden-im-spam-woran-liegt-das) #### [We received a letter about Google Fonts demanding 170 euros. Do we pay?](/en/forum/wir-haben-einen-brief-wegen-google-fonts-bekommen-und-sollen-170-euro-zahlen-zahlen-wir) September 4, 2026 [](/en/forum/wir-haben-einen-brief-wegen-google-fonts-bekommen-und-sollen-170-euro-zahlen-zahlen-wir) #### [Our shop window carries the company name in German and Upper Sorbian. How do we write it on Google?](/en/forum/auf-unserem-schaufenster-steht-der-firmenname-deutsch-und-sorbisch-wie-schreiben-wir-ihn-bei-google) September 3, 2026 [](/en/forum/auf-unserem-schaufenster-steht-der-firmenname-deutsch-und-sorbisch-wie-schreiben-wir-ihn-bei-google) #### [What counts as a normal cost per enquiry from Google Ads?](/en/forum/was-ist-ein-normaler-preis-fur-eine-anfrage-aus-google-ads) September 3, 2026 [](/en/forum/was-ist-ein-normaler-preis-fur-eine-anfrage-aus-google-ads) **Share** **Topics** * BFSG * market surveillance * complaint