The European Accessibility Act (EAA)

The European Accessibility Act (EAA) is now in force. As of June 2025, EU member states began enforcing national laws derived from the Directive, meaning online retailers and service providers selling to consumers in the EU must already be compliant — or risk significant penalties.

Accessibility has long been a key requirement for public sector organisations, but the EAA has changed that for private businesses too. It’s a topic we’ve been promoting to our clients for a long time, and this legislation marks a turning point in how accessibility is viewed across the digital landscape.

The EAA was adopted in 2019, requiring EU member states to introduce national legislation enforcing accessibility standards by June 2022. The compliance deadline for businesses passed on June 28th 2025. If your organisation is not yet compliant, immediate action is needed.

Despite being an EU directive, the EAA also affects UK-based companies selling to customers in EU countries.

The EAA focuses on products and services most important to people with disabilities, and most likely to have diverging accessibility requirements across EU member states. Where these are delivered via websites or mobile apps, those digital touchpoints are also covered. The main categories include computers and operating systems, ATMs and ticketing machines, smartphones, TV equipment, telephony services, audio-visual media services, passenger transport services (air, bus, rail and waterborne), banking services, ebooks, and ecommerce.

The EAA references the same four accessibility principles set out in WCAG 2.1 by the W3C: perceivability, operability, understandability, and robustness. In practice, this means your digital products and services must be usable by people with a wide range of disabilities, including those using assistive technologies.

The EAA emphasises that accessibility should be achieved through a universal design approach — built in from the start, rather than retrofitted. Organisations need to audit their products and services against these principles, implement any necessary changes, and publish the required public-facing accessibility documentation under their applicable national law.

Compliance isn’t a one-time exercise either. Regular audits, ongoing updates, and staff training are all essential to maintaining an accessible digital presence long term.

Non-compliance can carry serious consequences. Financial penalties can start at €60,000 or scale as a percentage of global revenue. In Ireland, directors face up to 18 months in prison for failing to meet accessibility standards. Spain, where enforcement was already in place, fined airline Vueling £90,000 for an inaccessible booking process. In Germany, businesses can even report non-compliant competitors to authorities.

According to Eurostat, around 101 million people — one in four people over the age of 16 in the EU — have a disability. Improvents in website accessibility benefits everyone, not just people with disabilities. Compliant websites and services typically offer better usability and more positive experiences for all users.

Companies that take an accessibility-first approach will be better placed to serve a wider audience, reduce legal risk, and adapt as standards continue to evolve. The UK may well follow with its own equivalent legislation in time.

From detailed accessibility audits to full redesigns, our team can identify gaps in your current digital experience, recommend practical solutions and help ensure your products and services meet the requirements of the EAA and WCAG standards. Get in touch to find out how we can help your organisation stay compliant and inclusive.