The European Accessibility Act (EAA) is one of the most significant pieces of accessibility legislation in decades. It establishes binding requirements for a wide range of products and services across the European Union, with a compliance deadline of June 28, 2025 for most obligations.
If you are a designer, developer, product manager, or business owner operating in or selling to the EU market, this legislation directly affects your work.
What Is the European Accessibility Act?
The European Accessibility Act (Directive 2019/882) requires that a broad set of products and digital services be accessible to people with disabilities. It was adopted in 2019 and transposed into national law by EU member states by June 2022, with full enforcement beginning June 28, 2025.
The EAA is designed to harmonize accessibility requirements across EU member states — replacing the patchwork of national accessibility laws with a single European standard.
Who Does the EAA Apply To?
The EAA applies to businesses that:
- Are based in the EU, or
- Offer products or services to consumers in the EU from outside the EU
Certain exemptions exist for microenterprises (fewer than 10 employees and annual turnover under €2 million) providing services, but these exemptions are narrow and product manufacturers do not benefit from them.
What Products and Services Are Covered?
The EAA covers a wide range of products and services:
Products: Computers, smartphones, tablets, ATMs, ticketing machines, check-in kiosks, TVs and set-top boxes, e-readers, banking terminals.
Digital services: E-commerce websites and apps, banking and financial services, transport services (ticketing, check-in, real-time information), electronic communications services (messaging, email, video calls), audiovisual media services, e-books, and operating systems.
Key clarification: The EAA applies to consumer-facing products and services. It does not apply to enterprise B2B software that is not consumer-facing, though many organizations choose to apply the same standards.
What Are the Accessibility Requirements?
The EAA references the EN 301 549 standard, which for web and mobile content maps largely to WCAG 2.1 Level AA. For businesses already targeting WCAG 2.1 AA compliance, the technical requirements will be familiar.
Specific requirements include:
- Information provided through multiple sensory channels (not just visual)
- User interfaces that can be operated through multiple input methods
- Compatibility with assistive technologies
- Support for users' personalization settings (text size, contrast, etc.)
- Clear, simple language
- Accessible digital documentation
Key Obligations for Businesses
Technical conformance: Products and services must meet the accessibility requirements. For web and mobile, this means WCAG 2.1 AA compliance.
Accessibility statement: Services must publish an accessibility statement describing the level of conformance, known issues, and contact information for accessibility feedback.
Feedback and remediation mechanism: Businesses must provide a mechanism for users to report accessibility issues and a process for addressing them.
Documentation: Businesses must be able to demonstrate compliance, including documentation of accessibility testing and remediation processes.
Supply chain responsibility: Businesses that import or distribute products are responsible for the accessibility of those products, not just the original manufacturer.
Enforcement and Consequences
Enforcement is the responsibility of individual EU member states. Each country designates a national enforcement body. Non-compliance can result in:
- Orders to achieve compliance within a specified timeframe
- Financial penalties (the amount varies by member state)
- In severe cases, prohibition of the product or service from the market
Enforcement approaches and penalty levels will vary across the 27 member states, but the underlying requirements are consistent.
What To Do Now
For organizations that have not yet begun their EAA compliance journey, a pragmatic approach:
- Audit current state: Conduct a WCAG 2.1 AA audit of your in-scope products and services to understand the current compliance gap
- Prioritize by user impact: Address the most significant barriers first, particularly in core user flows
- Establish an accessibility process: Integrate accessibility into design, development, and QA workflows
- Prepare documentation: Accessibility statements, testing logs, and remediation tracking
- Build internal capability: Training for design and development teams
The Broader Significance
Beyond compliance, the EAA represents a cultural shift: accessibility is becoming a non-negotiable requirement of doing business in Europe, not a nice-to-have or a niche concern.
Organizations that approach the EAA as a compliance floor rather than a ceiling will find themselves building more usable, more inclusive products — and better positioned as accessibility standards continue to evolve globally.