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 has already started
National market-surveillance authorities are auditing large online retailers, and courts have ordered companies to make their sites and apps accessible under a penalty for every day of delay. Waiting for a complaint or an audit letter is the expensive path.
What the European Accessibility Act is
The European Accessibility Act (EAA), formally Directive 2019/882, is EU-wide law that requires a common set of accessibility requirements for key products and services. Its goal 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, but the underlying requirements are the same everywhere. For websites and mobile applications, that means conforming to EN 301 549, the harmonised European standard that currently incorporates WCAG 2.1 Level AA and moves to WCAG 2.2 AA in its next version.
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 under €2M annual turnover) are outside the service obligations.
The deadlines that matter
The EAA applies across all 27 member states. New products and services placed on the market must meet the requirements from this date.
Certain services already provided before June 2025, and self-service terminals already in use, have a transition period running to 2030 (or the end of the terminal's economic life).
How to make a website compliant
For the web, EAA conformance comes down to WCAG: 2.1 AA today, 2.2 AA in the updated standard. Conforma tests against 2.2 AA, which covers both. A practical route:
-
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.
-
02
Fix at the source
Resolve each issue in your real markup (not with an overlay widget, which regulators and courts do not accept), then re-scan to confirm.
-
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. Products and services placed on the market from that date must meet its accessibility requirements; certain pre-existing services and self-service terminals have a transition period running until 2030.
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 (fewer than 10 staff and under €2M annual turnover) are exempt for the service obligations.
What standard does the EAA require for websites?
For websites and mobile apps, conformance is demonstrated against the harmonised European standard EN 301 549, which currently incorporates WCAG 2.1 Level AA. The next version of the standard adopts WCAG 2.2 AA. Because 2.2 is a superset of 2.1, testing against WCAG 2.2 AA (as Conforma does) satisfies today's requirement and future-proofs you for the update.
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. Enforcement has already begun: national market-surveillance authorities are auditing large online retailers, and courts have ordered companies to remediate under daily penalties.
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 an EAA-ready 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 an EAA-ready accessibility statement when you are ready to prove it.
Scan your site free