Guide to the European Accessibility Act

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A guide to the essentials, by Piccia Neri

A few facts and resources for you to get ready for 28 June 2025. A live document that I’ll keep adding to. It is not exhaustive, and I am not a lawyer!

If you fancy watching me almost swear on stage, here is my talk on the EAA at Hatch Conference 2024.

Basic facts

What the EAA is

The EAA is a directive that requires specific digital products and services in the European Union to be usable by people with disabilities. It builds on earlier directives, such as the EU Directive 2016 that established accessibility requirements for websites and apps by public sector bodies.

The complete title is Directive (EU) 2019/882 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on the accessibility requirements for products and services.

The EAA is not a law. It is a directive providing a consistent set of baseline accessibility requirements across Europe. Each country passes their own laws, requirements and penalties which can go stricter, but never less strict.

Why it exists

The main reason is to harmonise and unify all the different accessibility laws and policies in each member state. This had led to divergent rule sets that made it much more difficult to comply, creating friction and resentment. However, given that each member state has sovereignty over their own laws, there is consistency over which services and products are affected, but not so much over requirements and penalties.

Who needs it

People with the following disabilities, which could be situational, temporary, or permanent:

Without vision/ with limited vision
Without perception of colour
Without hearing/ with limited hearing
Without vocal capability
With limited manipulation, strength, or reach
With risk of photosensitive seizures
With limited cognition
With neurodivergence
With vestibular disorders
With other physical or cognitive disorders

Sectors covered

Both private companies and public bodies
Selling product and services to the EU (regardless of where they are located)
Mainly business to consumer. The word “consumer” appears 49 times in the directive; the word “employee” never appears
Hardware and software
Communication
Commerce
Finance
Education
Transportation

Products covered

Computers, including smartphones and tablets
Payment terminals, including card readers
Cash withdrawal kiosks
Self-service terminals (check-in, ticket sales, etc)
Interactive information terminals
Products used to access communication services, like routers, modems and smartphones
Products used to access media services, like digital TV boxes or smart-TVs
Reading tablets used to read e-books

Services covered

Electronic comms services (calls, e-mail, sms, chat, etc)
Payment terminals, including card readers
Media services (streaming services, TV guides)
Transport services (booking websites, apps, ticket kiosks)
Self-service terminals (check-in, ticket sales, etc)
Banking services (websites, apps, queuing systems, kiosks)
E-books
E-commerce (yes, all of it, unless you or your product/ service fall into one of the exempt categories)

Exemption criteria for companies

Micro-enterprises: companies with fewer than 10 employees
Annual balance sheet total not exceeding Є2 million

Exemption criteria for products and services

If making a product or service accessible would radically change it, thus turning it a totally different thing, then it’s exempt
Pre-recorded time-based media (e.g., videos) published before June 2025
Office file formats published before June 2025
Online maps, if essential information is otherwise provided in an accessible way
Archived content that won’t be updated after June 2025
Third-party content not funded, developed, or under the control of an organisation that must be compliant

Compliance standard

The EAA does not directly specify the standards, unhelpfully. It focuses more on functionally meeting the needs of disabled people, which is great. As a result, the voluntary harmonised EU standard EN 301 549 will be used as the presumptive standard of conformity (please note: the link to EN 301 549 will directly open a PDF download). To cut a long story short, because of different country interpretations, your best bet is to aim to comply with WCAG 2.2, AA level.

Penalties

Examples of penalties

Not all EU state members have transposed the directive into their own legislation yet, although most have. I have not been able to source an accurate list: I’ll update this page when I find it – I have updated – see below.

Here are a few examples of what penalties look like across the board:

Financial penalties start at around €60k
Or on a percentage of global revenue (Spain: 5%)
You can report your non-compliant competitor (Germany)
Your right to sell in the country or in the EU at large could be revoked
You may be excluded from governmental grants
When you get reported, you get the chance to remediate
Spain fined the airline Vueling to the tune of €90000 (that’s ninety thousand euros) for failing to provide adequate accessibility for people with disabilities on its website.

Update to the penalties listed above (added in Nov 2024)

The penalties for non-compliance with the European Accessibility Act (EAA) vary across EU Member States. Here’s an overview of the fines and enforcement actions in different countries:

Monetary penalties

Austria: Fines up to €200,000, with higher fines for repeated violations
Belgium: Fines ranging from €1,000 to €50,000
Croatia: Fines between €2,000 and €50,000
Cyprus: Expected fines between €1,000 and €20,000
Czech Republic: Fines up to €100,000
Denmark: Initial fines of €10,000, increasing with repeated offences
Estonia: Fines between €5,000 and €50,000
Finland: Fines up to €150,000
France: Fines ranging from €5,000 to €250,000
Germany: Penalties up to €500,000
Greece: Fines between €2,000 and €100,000
Hungary: Fines ranging from €3,000 to €50,000
Ireland: Fines up to €200,000
Italy: Fines ranging from €5,000 to €150,000
Latvia: Fines up to €100,000
Lithuania: Fines from €2,000 to €50,000
Luxembourg: Penalties including fines up to €150,000
Malta: Fines ranging from €1,000 to €50,000
Netherlands: Expected fines up to €250,000
Poland: Anticipated fines up to €200,000
Portugal: Fines between €5,000 and €100,000
Romania: Fines up to €100,000
Slovakia: Fines ranging from €2,000 to €50,000
Slovenia: Fines up to €100,000
Spain: Fines ranging from €5,000 to €300,000
Sweden: Penalties up to €200,000

Additional enforcement actions

Service suspensions: Countries like Austria, Belgium, and Hungary may suspend services for non-compliance
Public notices: Some countries require public disclosure of non-compliance
Mandatory audits: Several countries mandate accessibility audits and corrective actions
Legal proceedings: Individuals or advocacy groups can initiate legal action against non-compliant businesses
Market exclusion: Non-compliant products or services may be removed from the market
Prison sentences: In Ireland, non-compliance can result in prison time

It’s important to note that penalties can be imposed per country, potentially resulting in cumulative fines for businesses operating across multiple EU member states. Additionally, some countries may impose daily penalties for ongoing non-compliance, which can amount to €1,000 per day.

Sources:

A great article by Equalize Digital, with the most complete table of penalties by country that I have found so far: The Ultimate Guide to the European Accessibility Act for WordPress

EAA: Key Dates, Penalties, and Compliance – CDP Communications Inc.

Understanding the European Accessibility Act (EAA): Ensuring Compliance and Avoiding Penalties – AFixt

When it comes to EAA compliance, to delay is to pay | Deque

Your questions about the European Accessibility Act (EAA) | AbilityNet

European Accessibility Act (EAA) Fines

European Accessibility Act: is it time to update your websites, products & services to meet Europe’s accessibility requirements? – Bird & Bird

The global implications of the European Accessibility Act

The EU Accessibility Act – Time to start implementation projects now – Osborne Clarke

EAA Country Compliance Data

By deque – not complete but useful: The European Accessibility Act (EAA) Country Compliance Data

EAA Enforcement authorities and monitoring

How the EAA Will Be Enforced (Who’s Monitoring and How They’ll Check)

Dates to remember

The original transposition deadline for EU state members was 28 June 2022. However, by then only 3 countries (Italy, plus Estonia and Denmark) had met the deadline, so it was extended to 28 June 2025.
28 June 2025 is the enforcement date for most products and services. It means that from this date onwards, all new digital products and services sold or provided in the EU market must meet accessibility standards, country by country.
28 June 2030 is the enforcement date for hardware such as ATMs, and for digital products and services already in operation. However, any significant modification made before that date will require your platform to comply immediately — so planning ahead is critical. (from https://veridas.com/en/european-accessibility-act/).

Steps to take

Step 1: Inform your clients

Make sure your clients who you think will be affected are informed. Also, make prospective clients aware of the fact that you are indeed getting ready as well and therefore can offer them a compliant service.

Step 2: Get an expert to audit websites and products

Get an expert to audit your websites and products, or your clients’ websites and products. Hello! Have we met? Please send me an email, I’d be delighted to help.

After 28 June 2025, this will have to be a qualified professional, because proof of tests will have to be included in your accessibility statement. Current official qualifications for digital accessibility are: CPACC, WAS, CPWA, ADS

Step 3: Plan Ahead

With that same expert, forge out a plan to be ready when the time comes and to continue with your accessibility journey because accessibility is a journey, not a destination. It’s a continuing effort, it’s not done and dusted. Plus, in some countries such as France, you are actually required to provide a 3-year plan, stating which standard you’re aiming at, and how you are planning to get there. This also covers you in case someone reports you, so it’s a good idea all around.

Step 4: Train your Team! Prevent, not cure

Train your entire team: prevent, so in the future you won’t have to cure. Developers, designers, marketers, content creators, admin staff. The most common accessibility issues are actually quite easy to fix, and can be altogether avoided just by making sure your content and designs are accessible in the future. I’m currently helping a lot of companies with this, and the results are great because they’re immediately actionable, first of all, and then because the staff feel empowered and motivated, instead of worried and overwhelmed.

Hello! I’d love to work with you

Get in touch with me, Piccia Neri, for bespoke and off-the-shelf workshops on accessible design and content, both online and in-person. I can also advise and consult, as well as design accessibly for you. Please find me on LinkedIn, too.

Step 5: Make accessibility part of your workflow

I know it’s a hard one, and it looks like right now it can’t always happen, but: make accessibility part of your workflow. Remember when you used to design and build a website first, and then make it responsive? That changed radically, didn’t it. The same is about to happen with accessibility, and soon we’ll all forget it was even an issue. Moreover, accessibility is not going to go anywhere: it’s here to stay, so you better get on board with it and make the most of this opportunity. Also, remember that good design and good coding are natively accessible. They are also natively sustainable: there is a wonderful sweet spot where sustainability and accessibility meet, and I love it.

Step 6: Adopt accessibility statements

Next, and this is a must if you or your clients fall into the enterprise category, you need to adopt an accessibility statement that must be published on your website.

What to include in your accessibility statement:

The standard you’re using as your goal (i.e. WCAG 2.1 AA)
The most recent accessibility test you’ve had performed (has to be by a certified accessibility professional)
List of known issues and remediation plan
How users can report issues

This way when a user reports an issue, they will do so in a spirit of collaboration rather than litigation.

Step 7: Consult a lawyer

I cannot recommend this enough. If you or your clients fall into the compliance categories, you need to consult a lawyer to make sure you’re taking all the necessary steps. I am not a lawyer.

Step 8: Rake the money in

Congratulations! You have now made your website and services accessible to 25% of your current audience. Your sales and that of your clients will increase. As an agency providing digital services to your clients, you can now add accessibility to them. As a freelance designer or developer, you can hugely increase your hireability by adding accessibility to your skills.

Empower yourself and/ or your team

Replace overwhelm with power, and fear with excitement at the new opportunities that accessibility brings. I offer off-the-shelf accessible design and content trainings, as well as bespoke workshops tailored to your company’s specific needs.

Get in touch

Send me an email or connect on LinkedIn to have a chat about how to get ready for the EAA, how to advocate for accessibility in your company, accessible design, accessibility consulting, accessibility training, or even if you just fancy a natter.

Useful resources

The business case for accessibility

A doc compiling the most recent data I could find (as of Nov 2024), confirming that accessibility is a sound growth strategy. I keep updating it, so check back regularly.

The full text of the European Accessibility Act

Directive – 2019/882 – EN – EUR-Lex

The EN 301 549 v3 2. 1 standard

The link below will open a PDF download

ETSI EN 301 549 – V3.2.1 – Accessibility requirements for ICT products and services