“Refuse” as easy as “Accept”: a checklist for your cookie banner
By the OpenCookies team · published October 22, 2026
A cookie banner where “Accept” is a big colored button and “Refuse” is a gray link at the bottom of a menu is a problem, even if the banner is technically there. European data protection authorities ask for refusing to be as easy as accepting. In 2021 the French authority, the CNIL, sanctioned several large services, criticizing among other things a refusal that was harder than the acceptance.
Seven points to check
- A “Refuse” button on the first screen. No need to open a “Settings” menu to refuse.
- The same level of effort. If accepting takes one click, so does refusing.
- The same visual weight. Comparable size, color and contrast; not a solid button on one side and a discreet link on the other.
- Unchecked boxes by default in the detail of purposes.
- A usable site without consent. Content stays accessible when the visitor refuses.
- A remembered choice. The banner does not come back on every page after a refusal.
- A choice that can be changed at any time, with a visible withdrawal or modification link that is as simple to use as the initial choice.
The refusal must also be respected
A “Refuse” button that changes nothing is worse than a banner without a button. After a refusal, measurement and advertising cookies must not be set, and the services concerned must not receive tracking requests. That is what a test must check: what is displayed proves nothing.
How to check it
Run your site through the OpenCookies test. The report compares the state of the site before any choice, after “Refuse” and after “Accept”, and lists the buttons the banner offers. It describes what was observed; it is not legal advice.
Next, read our guides on Consent Mode v2 and Google Analytics 4.