European Accessibility Act: Your Questions Answered

What is the European Accessibility Act?

The European Accessibility Act (EAA), formally Directive (EU) 2019/882, is EU legislation that requires certain products and services to be accessible to people with disabilities. It became enforceable in EU member states from June 28, 2025.

Unlike the EU’s Web Accessibility Directive, which covers public sector bodies, the EAA primarily targets the private sector — businesses providing digital products and services to consumers in the European Union.

Who does the EAA apply to?

The EAA applies to businesses that:

• Provide products or services within one or more EU member states
• Are not classified as a microenterprise (see below)

The sectors specifically covered by the EAA include:

• Ecommerce (online retail of goods and services)
• Banking and financial services
• Electronic communications (telecoms)
• Audiovisual media services (streaming, on-demand)
• Transport (passenger air, bus, rail, waterborne services — the digital ticketing and information parts)
• e-Books and reading software
• Computers and operating systems

If your business sells products or services to consumers online and those consumers include EU residents, the EAA almost certainly applies to you.

Does it apply to businesses outside the EU?

Yes. If you are established outside the EU but sell into the EU market, you are covered. An organization based in the UK, the US, or Australia that sells to German or French consumers must comply with the EAA.

This mirrors the territorial scope of GDPR, which applied to non-EU organizations that processed EU residents’ personal data. Many non-EU businesses underestimated GDPR’s reach and are making the same mistake with EAA.

What is a microenterprise, and are they exempt?

A microenterprise is defined as fewer than 10 employees AND annual turnover of no more than €2 million. If your business meets both criteria, you qualify for reduced obligations under the EAA.

Microenterprise status provides relief from some requirements and a lighter enforcement regime — but it does not exempt businesses from making their digital services accessible entirely. The EAA encourages all businesses to pursue accessibility regardless of size.

What does “accessible” actually mean under the EAA?

The EAA requires that digital products and services meet the requirements set out in EN 301 549 — a European harmonized standard for ICT accessibility. For websites and mobile apps, EN 301 549 references the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 at Level AA as the technical standard for compliance.

WCAG 2.1 AA covers a range of requirements across four principles:

• Perceivable — information and UI components must be presentable in ways users can perceive (alt text, captions, sufficient contrast)
• Operable — interface components must be operable by all users (keyboard navigation, no timing limits, no seizure-inducing content)
• Understandable — information and UI operation must be understandable (readable language, predictable navigation, clear error messages)
• Robust — content must be robust enough to work with current and future assistive technologies

Does the EAA cover mobile apps?

Yes. Mobile applications are explicitly within scope. If you have both a website and a mobile app, both need to be accessible.

Does it cover third-party content or embedded tools?

This is one of the most common grey areas. Generally, if you choose to embed a third-party widget, payment processor, or analytics tool in your service, you are responsible for ensuring the overall user experience is accessible — even if the component is not one you built yourself.

Organizations cannot escape EAA obligations by pointing to a third-party provider. If you use an inaccessible payment iframe or an inaccessible chatbot widget, the barrier exists within your service and falls within your compliance responsibility.

What is an accessibility statement, and is it required?

An accessibility statement is a public document on your website that describes:

• The current level of accessibility your service provides
• Any known non-conformances and why they exist
• The date of your last accessibility assessment
• Contact information for users to report barriers
• A feedback and remediation process

Many EU member state implementations of the EAA require an accessibility statement as part of compliance. Even where it is not strictly mandatory, it is strongly recommended. It demonstrates good faith, sets realistic expectations for users, and provides a basis for structured remediation.

What are the penalties for non-compliance?

Penalties are set at the national level and vary across EU member states. Common consequences include:

• Financial fines (ranging from thousands to tens of thousands of euros per violation, depending on the country)
• Corrective orders requiring specific remediation
• Temporary suspension of the non-compliant service
• Reputational damage from enforcement proceedings that become public

France, Italy, and Germany all have established penalty frameworks. More EU member states are expected to publish enforcement guidance as the directive beds in.

Can an accessibility overlay make us compliant?

No. Accessibility overlays — third-party widgets that claim to automatically fix accessibility issues on your site — do not constitute EAA compliance. They cannot fix problems in your underlying code. They frequently interfere with the assistive technology users already rely on. And several EU national enforcement authorities have explicitly stated that overlays do not satisfy EAA requirements. For a detailed explanation of why overlays fail, see our article on true digital accessibility.

Do we need to comply with the latest WCAG version?

The EAA references EN 301 549, which incorporates WCAG 2.1 AA. WCAG 2.2 (released in 2023) is not yet referenced in the harmonized standard at the time of writing, though it adds useful improvements in areas like focus visibility and cognitive accessibility. Aiming for WCAG 2.2 AA is good practice, as the standard will eventually be updated.

How do I know if we’re compliant?

Compliance requires both automated testing and manual review. Automated tools reliably detect only 30–40% of WCAG issues. The rest — broken keyboard navigation, illogical focus order, inaccessible custom widgets, screen reader announcement failures — require manual testing with real assistive technology.

Start with a free automated scan to understand your current position. For a complete picture, commission a manual accessibility audit or an audit by people with disabilities who use assistive technology in their daily lives. That combination gives you both a defensible evidence base and an accurate picture of what your users actually experience.