European Accessibility Act (EAA) Requirements

The European Accessibility Act (Directive (EU) 2019/882) is EU law that aims to improve the internal market for accessible products and services by removing barriers created by divergent rules in Member States.

The Deadline Has Passed

The EAA enforcement date was June 28, 2025. If your product or service isn't yet compliant, you're already out of step with the law. All covered digital products and services placed on the EU market are now required to be fully accessible, and non-compliance can result in severe fines, loss of market access in the EU, and damage to brand reputation.

Who is Affected?

The EAA applies broadly to businesses operating within or selling to the European Union, regardless of where the company is headquartered. If you offer a covered product or service to consumers in the EU, the Act applies to you (microenterprises are exempt for services). Covered services include:

• E-commerce websites and applications
• Banking and financial services
• E-books and dedicated reading software
• Streaming services (Netflix, Spotify, etc.)
• Ticketing and transport services
• Operating systems and smartphones

What Are the Technical Requirements?

While the EAA does not explicitly name WCAG in the directive, the harmonized standard EN 301 549 is the technical benchmark for compliance. EN 301 549 adopts WCAG 2.1 Level AA as its baseline for web content and mobile applications.

By upgrading your digital infrastructure to WCAG 2.1 (or preferably WCAG 2.2), you will inherently satisfy the web requirements of the European Accessibility Act.