European Accessibility Act 2025: Is Your Website EAA Compliant?

Accessibility goes beyond regulation. It opens the door to innovation, growth, and a more inclusive society where everyone has the opportunity to participate equally and live with greater independence and dignity.

In 2023, around 101 million people in the European Union (EU) aged 16 and over were living with a disability. Many still encounter poverty, exclusion, and limited access to everyday services. The European Accessibility Act (EAA) aims to address these challenges by making products and services more accessible across the EU.

By proactively complying with the law, your business can reduce legal risks, improve customer experience, and reach a wider audience.

What Is the European Accessibility Act (EAA)?

The European Accessibility Act (EAA)⁽¹⁾, passed in 2019, is an EU directive designed to harmonize accessibility requirements across all member states. Its primary purpose is to improve customer experience and their access to products and services for people with disabilities to ensure their full participation in society.

Starting June 28, 2025, all products sold and services provided in the EU must be accessible to people with disabilities, unless they qualify for specific exemptions. This obligation applies to businesses within the EU and those outside the region if their products or services are offered to EU-based consumers.

The EAA covers a wide range of digital and physical offerings, including websites and mobile apps, e-commerce platforms, banking services and ATMs, and ticketing and transport systems.

Digital Accessibility Requirements Under the EAA

The European Accessibility Act 2025⁽²⁾  does not set out specific technical standards. Instead, it focuses on meeting the functional needs of people with disabilities by setting broad accessibility requirements for digital products and services.

However, to demonstrate alignment with the European Accessibility Act 2025 requirements, you are expected to follow EN 301 549. This European standard outlines detailed criteria for accessible websites, mobile applications, and electronic communications.

EN 301 549, in turn, is grounded in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA, which serves as a globally recognized framework for evaluating digital accessibility. WCAG defines accessibility around these four core principles:
Perceivability: Making Content Visible and Understandable
You must present information and interface elements in ways that users can perceive. Provide captions and transcripts for audio and video, and apply proper color contrast in digital accessibility to improve readability for users with visual or hearing impairments.

Perceivability: Making Content Visible and Understandable

You must present information and interface elements in ways that users can perceive. Provide captions and transcripts for audio and video, and apply proper color contrast in digital accessibility to improve readability for users with visual or hearing impairments.

Operability: Ensuring Usability for All Users

Support keyboard input, avoid flashing visuals that may cause seizures, and implement clear, consistent navigation. These practices help users who rely on assistive technologies interact more easily and safely with your content.

Understandability: Simplifying Navigation and Language

Make digital content easy to understand and use. Write clear instructions using plain language, keep interactions predictable, and provide helpful error messages and suggestions to guide users in correcting mistakes.

Robustness: Compatibility with Assistive Technologies

Your content must work across browsers, devices, and assistive tools. Apply clean, semantic HTML and support screen readers and voice input. Building robust digital systems helps future-proof accessibility under the framework of the European Accessibility Act 2025.

Services That Must Comply

The EAA applies to a broad range of businesses and services that are part of everyday life, especially for people with disabilities.

E-commerce Platforms

Online stores and marketplaces must allow all users to browse, select products, complete purchases, and contact support without barriers.

Consumer Banking Services

Banks are expected to deliver accessible platforms and financial tools that support readable layouts, screen readers, and keyboard navigation.

Telephony and Internet-Based Communications

Voice and messaging services are required to offer accessible interfaces, real-time communication, and compatibility with assistive devices.

Audiovisual Media Services

Streaming platforms and smart TVs must include features like subtitles, audio descriptions, and easy-to-use navigation.

Required Accessibility Features for Digital Content

If your organization aims to conform to the European Accessibility Act 2025 requirements, you can begin by applying must-have accessibility features.

One important step is making content available in multiple formats. This means adding meaningful alt text to images and including closed captions and audio descriptions for video content.

Moreover, to comply with the European Accessibility Act 2025, your content should work with assistive technologies such as screen readers like JAWS and NVDA. You can do this by using a clear heading structure, writing descriptive link text, and labeling form fields and interactive components properly.

Who Needs to Comply?

The European Accessibility Act 2025 defines which organizations must follow its accessibility requirements. Obligations apply based on who uses your products or services, not where your business is located.

EU-Based and International Organizations

All economic operators based in the EU, such as manufacturers, importers, and distributors based in the EU, are subject to the EAA. International companies are also affected if they offer products or services to EU consumers, regardless of where their headquarters are located.

Non-EU Companies Targeting EU Consumers

If you sell products or services to EU consumers, whether based in the U.S., Canada, or elsewhere, you must meet the same accessibility standards as EU-based organizations.

Specific Sectors Identified by the EAA

The EAA covers sectors such as retail, e-commerce, finance, media and communications, travel, technology and devices, and digital content. However, it exempts organizations with fewer than 10 employees and an annual turnover below €2 million.

Public Sector Organizations

Public sector bodies across EU member states, including government offices, schools, healthcare providers, and cultural institutions, must comply with the EAA by making online services accessible to people with disabilities.

Service Providers and Software Developers

Service providers that manage customer-facing websites and apps and companies that build digital platforms, cloud services, communication tools, and self-service kiosks are required to meet the EAA requirements.

How to Assess Your Website for EAA Compliance

To assess your website for EAA compliance, you should combine automated and manual accessibility testing. This two-layered process covers both technical compliance and real-world user experience.

For instance, automated tools quickly flag coding issues like missing ARIA labels, while manual checks address usability, such as whether screen readers interpret content correctly.

Steps to Achieve Compliance

Complying with the European Accessibility Act 2025 requirements might feel overwhelming at first, but it becomes far more achievable when you take a structured approach that integrates accessibility into your workflows.

Build Accessibility Into the Design & Development Process

Embed accessibility throughout your product lifecycle by applying WCAG standards to wireframes, visual designs, and front-end code. Make accessibility a shared responsibility between designers and developers so you can save time and resources in the long term.

Publish an Accessibility Statement and Feedback Form

Create an accessibility statement that describes your website’s accessibility status, known issues, planned improvements, and user guidance. Mention efforts like PDF remediation to make sure all downloadable documents are properly tagged and structured for screen reader compatibility. Plus, provide accessible ways for users to report problems (e.g., contact forms) and respond promptly.

Monitor and Update Regularly

Conduct regular website accessibility audits and spot checks after major updates to identify accessibility issues. Use monitoring insights to refine your processes and keep future changes aligned with standards.

Penalties and Enforcement

Under the European Accessibility Act 2025, each EU member state must establish procedures to verify whether products and services meet accessibility requirements. This involves appointing a body to perform market surveillance or compliance checks for services.

If a product is found noncompliant, authorities must instruct the operator to resolve the issue or withdraw it from the market. Each country sets its own penalties, which must be effective, proportionate, and dissuasive.

Fines vary across countries and depend on factors such as the severity of the violation, the number of users affected, and the number of products or services involved.

The European Accessibility Act is a major step toward a more inclusive society, and meeting its requirements is part of doing good business. EAA compliance is not something to fear. It is about building digital spaces that everyone can use. The urgency of beginning accessibility works today. Frame compliance as a positive value, not just a legal hurdle.

References

1. EAA

2. EAA 2025