Check if your website
respects its cookie notice

What it checks

It looks at three things: whether the cookie notice appears, which tracking tools are already running before anyone answers, and which cookies have already been saved.

Why it matters

The law doesn’t just ask you to have a cookie notice: it asks that nothing non-essential starts running before the visitor says yes. A flawless notice with analytics already running behind it is of little use: as far as the rules are concerned, it’s like having no notice.

There are also two very common findings that aren’t in the code but in the design: accepting takes one click and rejecting takes three, and options come pre-ticked. The rules require rejecting to be as easy as accepting and nothing to be ticked in advance. This check doesn’t measure those two (further down we tell you how to look at them yourself): it focuses on what is activated before the decision.

How to fix it, step by step

You don’t need to know anything about websites. The goal is simple: nothing that isn’t essential should start running until the visitor clicks “Accept”, and “Reject” should take the same effort.

1. Look at what came up

   In the result you’ll see one line for each thing we look at: whether the cookie notice appears, whether a tracking tool from another company (analytics, advertising, social media) is already running, and whether non-essential cookies have already been saved.

   A ✓ means nothing was seen to point out on that visit; a ✕ or a ! means we did, with the details next to it when there are any; a – means it couldn’t be determined. Take a screenshot or copy what comes up: it’s what you’ll show whoever runs your website.

2. If someone else or an agency runs your website

   You don’t have to touch anything: you just have to ask. Copy this message, paste what came up below it and send it to whoever built or maintains your website:

   Hi. I checked my website with Wakaris’s cookie checker (https://cookies.wakaris.com/en). When it’s opened without accepting or rejecting the cookie notice, it shows that either the notice doesn’t appear, or non-essential cookies or tracking tools are already loading (analytics, advertising, embedded videos or maps). Could you look into it so that:

   1. A cookie notice appears with “Accept” and “Reject” equally visible from the start.

   2. Nothing non-essential loads until the visitor accepts.

   3. No option comes pre-ticked.

   4. The choice can be changed later, for example from a link in the footer.

   Once it’s done, let me know and I’ll check it again on the same page. Thanks.

    

   What came up in the check:

    

   Copy email

   If they reply that “the notice already does that”, ask them to look without answering it: what matters is what happens before the visitor decides. If you run the website yourself, carry on with the next step.

3. If you run it yourself, depending on your platform

   WordPress. The notice comes from a plugin, an add-on you install from the Plugins menu in the WordPress dashboard. If you don’t have a cookie plugin, install a well-known one, such as Complianz, CookieYes or Cookiebot. If you already have one, look in its settings for the option that blocks analytics, advertising, videos and maps until the visitor accepts (each plugin names it differently). Watch out for analytics added by another plugin or pasted into the theme: it has to wait too.

   Wix. Wix has its own cookie notice: turn it on in your website’s privacy and cookie settings. If someone added code by hand for analytics or advertising, check that it’s classed as analytics or advertising, not as essential, so it waits for the answer.

   Shopify. Shopify also has its own notice: turn it on in your store’s customer privacy settings, at least for the European Union. Apps you’ve installed (chats, reviews, advertising) can load their own tools: if one keeps showing up, ask its developer whether it respects the notice’s decision.

   Another platform. Look in your platform’s privacy or cookie settings: many have a built-in notice. If yours doesn’t, you can add one from a specialist service (they’re called consent management platforms, or CMPs).

   Custom-built website. This part is for whoever codes it: add a consent manager and make every analytics, advertising or social media tag load only if the visitor accepts, with everything denied by default. With Google Tag Manager, through Google’s Consent Mode. Embedded videos and maps, with a preview image that loads the real content when clicked.

4. Check the notice yourself at a glance

   The check doesn’t measure this, but European data protection rules require it: the “Reject” button has to be visible from the start, just like “Accept”, without having to go into “Settings”; no box should come pre-ticked; and there has to be a way to change your mind later, for example a link in the website’s footer.

5. Check it again here

   Once it’s done, type your website’s address again above. We keep each address’s result for 24 hours, so if you check right after the change you’ll see the old one: wait until they’ve passed and try again. If the same thing still comes up, forward the new result to whoever made the change.

Learn more

Frequently asked questions about cookie notices