As a Developer this upcoming law is of interest, however I’ve lots of questions. How would I explain this to someone? Also maybe more importantly, how does this impact private companies, talk to me about money. What does this actually mean? I am not a lawyer, so the information provided in this blog post is for general informational purposes only take details with a pinch of salt, i’m trying to make sense of laws.
Summary / TLDR
The European Accessibility Act (EAA) requires countries to ensure digital products are accessible for people with disabilities by June 28, 2025 Non-compliance can result in fines, businesses must act now to avoid stricter enforcement and costly fixes later.
What is this European Accessibility Act (EAA)?
The European Accessibility Act (EAA) is a directive designed to make products and services across Europe more accessible to people with disabilities. But what exactly is a “directive”? How does it affect businesses and individuals? Let’s try and break it all down.
A directive is a type of law passed by the European Union (EU). Think of it as a set of rules or goals that the EU asks all its member states to follow. However, instead of applying the directive directly, each member state must create its own national laws to meet the directive’s goals.
A member state is any country that belongs to the EU. This process is called transposition. The UK is not part of the EU (since Brexit) and is not required to follow this directive.
However, UK businesses trading with the EU may still need to meet these standards. So if a company building their site in the UK and EU customer are using it, this will need to comply. Businesses in each member state are responsible for ensuring their products and services meet the new national laws.
OK what digital things does this apply to?
- Laptops, smartphones, payment terminals, ticket machines, and e-readers
- Operating systems (eg Windows, macOS)
- Online shopping stores
- ATMs, banking services (both in branches and online)
- Ticketing systems, kiosks
- Streaming services
- Many more..
The goal is to ensure people with disabilities can access these digital goods and services with ease. Think about that self-service terminal at the supermarket, airport or fast-food joint, how does someone that has a disability use this? What about that website for cheap flights? Or that app that books trains?
What’s the timeline?
The European Accessibility Act was adopted in 2019. Member states had until June 28, 2022, to turn it into national law. However, as of that deadline, only a few countries had completed this process. For instance, Estonia, Italy, and Denmark were among the first to notify the European Commission of their transposition measures.
In July 2022, many member states, including Spain, France, and others, received formal notices for not converting this into law.
OK, so Spain missed the deadline, what happened to them?
As Spain missed the original transposition deadline of June 28, 2022, leading to a formal notice from the European Commission. Following the notice, Spain enacted legislation to incorporate the EAA’s requirements into its national legal framework.
As of December 2024, Spain has transposed the European Accessibility Act (EAA) into national law, aligning with EU directives to enhance accessibility for individuals with disabilities.
OK what is a good example? What did Germany do when they made it law?
Germany introduced the Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz (BFSG), or Accessibility Strengthening Act, in 2021 to comply with the EAA.
Talk to me about money, what happens or could happen?
In the Germany version, companies that fail to meet accessibility requirements can face fines of up to €100,000 per violation. Each distinct failure could count as a separate violation, meaning fines could add up.
What happens when there’s a violation?
Imagine a private company in Germany runs a flight booking website:
- The website lacks keyboard navigation.
- Forms are not labelled properly
- Images have no alt text.
Germany’s market surveillance authority receives a complaint and investigates.
- The company is notified and given 3 months to fix the issues.
- The company fails to act. Each issue is treated as a separate violation
Each violation can incur a fine of up to €100,000 under the BFSG. Let’s assume the authority imposes the maximum fine for 10 violations, it might look something like this:
| Violation | WCAG Criterion | Max Fine (€) |
|---|---|---|
| Lack of keyboard navigation | WCAG 2.1.1 | 100,000 |
| Poor colour contrast | WCAG 1.4.3 | 100,000 |
| Missing alt text for images | WCAG 1.1.1 | 100,000 |
| Form fields without labels | WCAG 1.3.1, WCAG 3.3.2 | 100,000 |
| Inaccessible error messages | WCAG 3.3.3 | 100,000 |
| No focus indication | WCAG 2.4.7 | 100,000 |
| Captcha without accessible option | WCAG 1.1.1, WCAG 2.1.1 | 100,000 |
| Lack of skip navigation | WCAG 2.4.1 | 100,000 |
| Inaccessible interactive elements | WCAG 4.1.2 | 100,000 |
| Total Fines | NA | €1,000,000 |
Yeah…but how likely are these fines?
It’s a good question. However the likelihood of fines being imposed for non-compliance with the European Accessibility Act (EAA) is significant, particularly given the European Union’s track record of enforcing directives.
A comparable directive is GDPR. The largest to date is a €1.2 billion fine imposed on Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd. Was this significant? Yes, but was this enough money to outweigh the profits from breaking the law? I’m not so sure..
What Happens After the 2025 Deadline?
After the compliance deadline of June 28, 2025, companies providing covered products or services under the European Accessibility Act (EAA) must fully adhere to accessibility requirements. Enforcement mechanisms will become stricter, with less leniency for non-compliance. Basically, fines are now possible after this deadline.
OK, aside from money what else could happen?
- Authorities might demand the company take down the website or specific non-compliant sections until they meet accessibility standards.
- Authorities may publicly disclose non-compliance, impacting the company’s reputation.
Getting more technical
What about some of the other jargon in this area? The EAA is a directive (Directive (EU) 2019/882). The EAA defines what must be accessible it specifies that compliance can be achieved using standards, including EN 301 549.
| Aspect | European Accessibility Act (EAA) | EN 301 549 |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Directive (legal framework). | Technical standard. |
| Purpose | Defines what products/services must be accessible and sets functional accessibility requirements. | Provides the technical requirements and methods to achieve accessibility. |
| Scope | Broad scope of products and services. | Focuses on digital products and services. |
| Legal Status | Legally binding once transposed into national laws. | Not legally binding but used to demonstrate compliance with the EAA and other laws. |
| Implementation Deadline | Member states must implement the EAA by June 28, 2025. | EN 301 549 is already in use. |
| Alignment with WCAG | Refers to harmonized standards but does not define specific technical criteria like WCAG. | Directly incorporates WCAG 2.1 Level AA for digital content. |
Is there anyone or anything that doesn’t have to comply?
Yes, the EAA excludes “microenterprises” that provide services directly to consumers.
Think about small local online shop with fewer than 10 employees and a turnover of less than €2 million may not need to meet accessibility requirements. Other things include personal blogs and live broadcast events, however organisations are encouraged to add captions or transcripts after the event.
General takeaways
We’ll see how this plays out, I can see budget being released as companies start to worry about this. Overlay companies companies are doing a good job of capitalising on this law change, even if they make it worse and put a company more at risk.
I anticipate the first fines might start to alter attitudes. The real question I have is what is the monetary threshold before a company actively prioritises accessibility as it makes sense on a profit-and-loss spreadsheet?
I sometimes think some of the real change might come from other companies in the space clearly differentiating themselves in this area with others copying.
Companies taking accessibility seriously from the start just continue as normal, everyone can use their product or service. Those that haven’t, there’s some work to do.