The European Accessibility Act, in plain English
Since 28 June 2025, accessibility is the law for consumer-facing digital services across the EU. Here is who must comply, by when, and how to prove your website meets the standard.
Scan your site freeEnforcement so far
National market-surveillance authorities are reviewing large online retailers, and a French court has ordered a retailer to make its site and app accessible under a penalty for every day of delay. Read what the Carrefour ruling in Caen actually decided, including the parts that cut the other way.
What the European Accessibility Act is
The European Accessibility Act (EAA), formally Directive 2019/882, is EU-wide law setting common accessibility requirements for key products and services. The aim is a single market where people with disabilities can use digital services on equal terms, instead of 27 different national rulebooks.
Each member state has transposed the directive into its own national law with its own regulator and penalties, several of them, on the Commission's assessment, still incompletely. The underlying requirements are the same everywhere. For websites and mobile applications the reference is the European standard EN 301 549. EN 301 549 V3.2.1 (2021) uses WCAG 2.1 AA and is cited in the Official Journal only under the public-sector Web Accessibility Directive. EN 301 549 V4.1.1, published on 2 September 2026, adopts WCAG 2.2 AA and adds a mapping to the European Accessibility Act, but it is not cited yet, so no standard currently gives a presumption of conformity under the EAA.
Who has to comply
The EAA covers consumer-facing products and services offered in the EU, including:
E-commerce
Online shops and any website or app that sells goods or services to consumers.
Banking & payments
Consumer banking, payment services and the terminals and apps that run them.
Ticketing & transport
Passenger transport services, electronic ticketing and the information around a journey.
Telecoms
Electronic communications services and the interfaces consumers use to reach them.
E-books & reading
E-books, e-readers and the software used to distribute and read them.
Devices & software
Consumer computers, operating systems, and self-service terminals such as ATMs and kiosks.
It applies to companies based outside the EU too, if they sell to EU consumers. One narrow exemption: micro-enterprises providing services (fewer than 10 staff, and annual turnover or annual balance sheet total of no more than €2 million) are outside the service obligations.
The deadlines that matter
The EAA applies across all 27 member states. Products placed on the market and services, including an existing website or webshop, must meet the requirements from this date.
A provider may keep using products it already used lawfully before 28 June 2025 until 28 June 2030, and service contracts agreed before that date may run unchanged until they expire, for at most five years. Self-service terminals already in use may stay to the end of their economic life. The service itself gets no transition period.
How to make a website compliant
For the web, EAA conformance comes down to WCAG: 2.1 AA in EN 301 549 V3.2.1 and 2.2 AA in V4.1.1. Conforma tests the machine-checkable part of WCAG 2.2 AA. A practical route:
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01
Scan & score
Test your site against WCAG 2.2 AA to find the machine-detectable failures (contrast, alt text, labels, tap-target size, structure) and get a baseline score.
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02
Fix at the source
Resolve each issue in your real markup rather than with an overlay widget, which leaves the underlying markup unchanged, then re-scan to confirm.
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03
Document & monitor
Publish an accessibility statement and keep scanning on a schedule so new issues are caught before they reach a user or a regulator.
Common fixes to start with
Most sites fail the same WCAG checks first. Each guide has a plain-language fix and a before/after snippet you can copy.
The EAA in your country
Each member state transposed the directive into its own law, regulator and accessibility statement. Pick yours for the specifics that apply to you:
EAA questions, answered
When does the European Accessibility Act take effect?
The EAA (Directive 2019/882) has applied across all 27 EU member states since 28 June 2025. The service itself, including an existing website or webshop, has had to comply since that date. Until 28 June 2030 a provider may keep using products it already used lawfully before then, and service contracts agreed before 28 June 2025 may run unchanged until they expire, for at most five years. Self-service terminals already in use may stay to the end of their economic life, for at most 20 years, and Germany and France set 15 years.
Who has to comply with the EAA?
Businesses that offer covered consumer products and services in the EU: e-commerce, banking and payments, e-books, electronic ticketing, telecoms and transport services, among others. It applies to companies established outside the EU too, if they sell to EU consumers. Micro-enterprises providing services are exempt from the service obligations: fewer than 10 staff, and annual turnover or annual balance sheet total of no more than €2 million.
What standard does the EAA require for websites?
For websites and apps the reference is EN 301 549. EN 301 549 V3.2.1 (2021) uses WCAG 2.1 AA and is cited in the Official Journal only under the public-sector Web Accessibility Directive. EN 301 549 V4.1.1, published on 2 September 2026, adopts WCAG 2.2 AA and adds a mapping to the European Accessibility Act, but it is not cited yet, so no standard currently gives a presumption of conformity under the EAA. Building to WCAG 2.2 AA covers the web criteria of both versions; an automated scan, Conforma's included, checks only part of them.
What are the penalties for non-compliance?
Each member state sets and enforces its own penalties, which range from fines to orders to bring a service into compliance. National market-surveillance authorities are reviewing large online retailers, and a French court has ordered a retailer to make its site and app accessible under a daily penalty.
How do I know if my website is compliant?
Start with an automated scan against WCAG 2.2 AA to catch the machine-detectable issues (contrast, missing alt text, unlabeled controls, tap-target size, structure), then commission a manual review for the rest. Conforma gives you the automated score, a fix for every issue, ongoing monitoring, and a draft accessibility statement.
This page is a plain-English summary, not legal advice. Check your national transposition for specifics.
See where your site stands in seconds
A free scan against WCAG 2.2 AA, a plain-language fix for every issue, and a draft accessibility statement when you need one.