European Accessibility Act: What It Means for Your Organisation
June 4, 2025Studio Vi
What is the European Accessibility Act (EAA)?
The European Accessibility Act (EAA) is a European directive aimed at structurally improving the accessibility of digital products and services. The legislation, which comes into effect in June 2025, requires organizations within the EU to design their technology and services so they are usable by everyone, including people with visual, auditory, motor, or cognitive disabilities.
A unified standard for digital accessibility
The EAA was developed to prevent fragmentation of accessibility legislation across Europe. Previously, member states maintained their own, often inconsistent, accessibility guidelines. The EAA offers a harmonized framework with uniform requirements. This standardization makes it easier for companies to operate across multiple countries without needing to comply with various local regulations, provided they design their products and services according to EAA criteria.
Broad application across products and services
The scope of the directive is deliberately wide. It not only covers websites and apps but also physical interfaces such as ATMs, ticket terminals, and interactive kiosks. In addition, consumer electronics like smartphones and TVs, e-books, digital communication services, and e-commerce platforms are included. All these products and services must comply with the same set of accessibility requirements, including those in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA.
More than inclusion: economic and societal value
While promoting inclusion is a core motivation, the EAA goes beyond just social aspects. By enforcing digital accessibility, the directive promotes innovation, competition, and economic growth. A uniform approach reduces development costs, opens new markets, and allows organizations to invest in scalable, sustainable solutions. Accessibility thus becomes not only a moral imperative but also a strategic decision.
Why Is the EAA Important for Your Organization?
The European Accessibility Act is about much more than compliance: it sets the tone for how organizations will shape their digital products and services in the future. The directive requires companies to reassess and adapt their digital environments based on standardized accessibility criteria. But beyond this legal obligation, it also offers an opportunity to position your organization as future-proof, inclusive, and customer-focused.
Legal obligation with immediate consequences
The EAA is not a voluntary recommendation but binding legislation. Organizations falling within the directive’s scope are required to make their products and services accessible to people with disabilities. This applies to new digital applications as well as updates or major changes to existing systems. Non-compliance can result in formal warnings, legal action, fines, and, in some cases, exclusion from public tenders or markets where accessibility is explicitly required.
Impact on reputation and brand perception
Beyond legal consequences, the EAA also affects how your organization is perceived by customers, partners, and employees. Accessibility is increasingly seen as a benchmark for quality, responsibility, and social accountability. Organizations that fail to address digital barriers risk being perceived as exclusive or indifferent, especially by a generation of users who consider inclusivity to be the norm.
Broader reach and better user experience
Organisations that prioritise accessible digital experiences benefit from a larger potential user base. In Europe alone, an estimated 135 million people live with a disability, a group often excluded by inaccessible technology. Meeting their needs not only broadens your reach but also improves the general user experience for everyone. Accessible designs are typically clearer, more consistent, and user-friendly, leading to higher customer satisfaction and conversion rates.
Which Products and Services Fall Under the EAA?
The European Accessibility Act targets products and services that help people with disabilities participate fully in social and economic life. The legislation explicitly applies to digital and technological tools essential for communication, service access, and participation.
Concretely, a wide range of products and services must meet standardized accessibility requirements:
Computers and operating systems
These technologies often serve as gateways to work, education, and public services. Both hardware and the underlying software must be accessible to users with various disabilities.
ATMs, ticket machines, and terminals
Physical devices such as ATMs, self-service kiosks, and ticket terminals are covered by the directive. Since they provide crucial access to financial services and mobility, they must be operable by everyone, including those with visual or motor impairments.
Mobile devices and consumer electronics
Smartphones, tablets, and TVs that facilitate digital services must comply with new accessibility standards. This also applies to interfaces and remote controls. For providers of on-demand and audiovisual media, this means offering features like subtitles, audio descriptions, and intuitive navigation.
E-books and digital reading software
The accessibility of e-books and their platforms is explicitly covered by the legislation. Features like text-to-speech, text enlargement, screen reader compatibility, and high-contrast design are essential.
Digital commerce and service platforms
E-commerce platforms, customer portals, and other online services also fall under the EAA. Organizations offering digital products or services, from online stores to booking systems, must optimize their platforms for people with diverse needs, on all devices and under all circumstances.
This broad scope demands an integrated approach to digital accessibility, where both the technology and the user experience are central.
What Are the Deadlines and Timelines for Compliance?
The European Accessibility Act officially took effect on June 28, 2019. From that point, EU member states had three years to transpose the directive into national law, with a deadline of June 28, 2022.
Following that, there is a transition period of another three years for businesses and organizations. By June 28, 2025, all applicable products and services must meet the new accessibility requirements outlined in the EAA.
Phased implementation with a hard deadline
The three-year transposition phase allowed countries to legally implement the directive. For businesses, this now means limited time remains to align their digital infrastructure and services with the legislation. After June 2025, full enforcement begins and penalties for non-compliance may follow.
Why starting now is essential
Although 2025 may seem distant on paper, early preparation is critical. Accessibility improvements are rarely plug-and-play: they require analysis, design adjustments, technical implementation, testing, and sometimes complete platform rebuilds. Especially for large organizations with multiple systems, external vendors, and legacy environments, this process can take months, or even years.
Starting now with an audit and roadmap prevents last-minute issues and demonstrates proactive leadership to regulators and users alike.
How Can You Prepare Your Digital Platforms for the EAA?
Preparing your organization for the European Accessibility Act requires more than superficial changes. It demands a strategic approach that considers technology, design, and organizational processes holistically. Only then can you meet legal requirements while adding value to your digital experience.
Start with a thorough accessibility audit
The first step is awareness. Without knowing where your digital platform currently stands, you cannot improve effectively. An audit identifies structural accessibility issues, from color contrast and navigation to semantic structure and keyboard operability. It uncovers not only technical gaps but also UX and content barriers to inclusion.
Aim for WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance
The WCAG 2.1 guidelines form the international benchmark for digital accessibility. These standards are embedded in the EAA and provide practical guidance for design and development, such as scalable text, logical heading structures, screen reader compatibility, and clear error messages. WCAG compliance isn’t an endpoint, but a foundation for accessible digital systems.
Raise awareness and knowledge across your team
Accessibility isn’t just the responsibility of developers or UX designers, it’s a shared task across your digital team. From content creation to testing, every step requires awareness of accessibility principles. Invest in training, knowledge-sharing, and guidelines so that everyone knows their role in creating inclusive experiences.
Bring in expertise where needed
Accessibility is a discipline in its own right. If your platform is complex or based on legacy technology, it’s wise to enlist external expertise. A specialized partner can perform technical audits and support implementation, validation, and certification. This ensures you don’t just meet EAA standards formally, but also create real impact for users.
What Are the Consequences of Not Complying with the EAA?
The European Accessibility Act is not optional. From June 2025, compliance with its accessibility requirements will be a legal obligation for many organizations in the EU. Those who ignore it risk legal action and reputational damage.
Legal and financial consequences
While the EAA is an EU directive, enforcement happens at the national level. Member states can define their own penalties, meaning fines and enforcement measures may vary by country. What they share is their binding nature: organizations can be forced to withdraw non-compliant digital products or services or invest in urgent, costly redevelopment.
Additionally, companies that fail to meet EAA requirements may be excluded from public tenders or contracts that explicitly require digital accessibility.
Reputational damage and loss of trust
Accessibility is not only a legal requirement, it’s a societal expectation. Consumers, users, and employees expect modern organizations to be inclusive and digitally accessible. Companies that fall short risk being perceived as outdated, indifferent, or irresponsible.
In an era where brand loyalty is shaped by shared values, non-compliance can directly harm your brand perception and customer retention. The risk is not just reputational loss, but long-term irrelevance in an increasingly inclusive market.
What Are the Benefits of Digital Accessibility Beyond Compliance?
Digital accessibility is still too often viewed as a checklist item, a technical requirement to avoid penalties. But organizations that look further discover accessibility can be a strategic growth accelerator. Enhancing digital accessibility demonstrably leads to better user experiences, a broader audience, and higher conversions.
Access to a broader market
More than 135 million people in the EU live with a disability. That’s not a niche, it’s a demographic reality. Making your digital platforms accessible opens the door to a significantly larger audience. This expands your reach, unlocks new market segments, and creates opportunities for inclusive innovation.
Accessibility makes your brand literally and figuratively more approachable. In markets where competition on price or functionality is limited, this becomes a powerful differentiator.
Better user experience for all
What’s good for people with disabilities is often good for all users. Clear content structure, logical navigation, high contrast, responsiveness, and intuitive interaction all contribute to a seamless digital experience. In a time where UX defines user retention, accessibility improves satisfaction and loyalty.
Synergy with SEO and technical performance
Accessible websites often follow the same best practices as SEO-friendly websites, semantic HTML, clear headings, descriptive alt text, fast load times, and responsive design. This results in higher visibility in search engines like Google, lower bounce rates, and higher conversions.
In short: investing in accessibility is investing in quality, in every sense.
Accessibility as the Foundation for Digital Progress
The European Accessibility Act is more than a legal milestone. It compels organizations to fundamentally rethink how digital products and services are designed, developed, and delivered. Accessibility is no longer optional, it’s the new standard.
Yet the true value of this shift goes beyond compliance. Organizations that embrace the challenge will find that accessibility leads to better technology, stronger brand engagement, and a digital strategy that reaches everyone.
By investing in accessibility today, you’re not just building a platform that meets 2025’s rules, you’re creating a digital environment that is sustainable, scalable, and future-proof in a world where inclusion is the norm.
Accessibility is not the final goal. It’s the strategic starting point for digital growth.
Vidar Daniels Digital Director