European Accessibility Act (EAA) 2025: the complete compliance guide
In short: The European Accessibility Act (Directive (EU) 2019/882) has applied since 28 June 2025. It requires in-scope products and services sold to EU consumers — e-commerce, banking, telecoms, e-books, transport ticketing — to meet EN 301 549 / WCAG 2.1 AA. Each member state sets its own fines, and micro-enterprises providing services are exempt.
The European Accessibility Act has applied since 28 June 2025. Here's what it actually requires, who it applies to, what happens if you ignore it, and the concrete steps to get compliant.
What is the European Accessibility Act?
The European Accessibility Act (EAA) is Directive (EU) 2019/882, adopted by the EU in 2019 to harmonize accessibility requirements for a defined set of products and services across all 27 member states. Instead of 27 different national accessibility rules, the EAA sets one baseline that each country then writes into its own law.
It has applied since 28 June 2025. From that date, in-scope businesses selling to consumers in the EU are expected to meet the EAA's accessibility requirements — regardless of where the business itself is based.
Who has to comply
The EAA covers business-to-consumer (B2C) digital products and services. In practice that means e-commerce websites and apps, banking and payment services, e-books and e-readers, passenger transport information and ticketing (air, bus, rail, waterborne), telecommunications services and the devices used to access them, certain consumer electronics with computing capability, and self-service terminals such as ATMs, ticket machines, and check-in kiosks.
Location doesn't determine scope — what matters is whether you sell products or services to consumers based in the EU. A company headquartered outside the EU is in scope the moment it has EU consumer customers in a covered category.
- E-commerce (online stores, checkout flows)
- Banking, payment, and financial services
- E-books and e-reading software
- Transport ticketing and passenger information
- Telecoms services and related consumer devices
- Self-service terminals (ATMs, ticket machines, check-in kiosks)
The micro-enterprise exemption
Micro-enterprises — fewer than 10 employees and under €2 million in annual turnover or balance sheet total — are exempt from most of the EAA's service obligations. If you're close to that threshold, it's worth confirming your exact status rather than assuming; the exemption is narrow and doesn't cover every obligation in every member state.
Everyone above that threshold, in a covered category, is expected to comply — there's no separate carve-out for small-but-not-micro businesses.
The technical standard: EN 301 549 and WCAG 2.1 AA
The EAA doesn't invent a new accessibility standard from scratch. For digital content, it points to EN 301 549, the EU's harmonized accessibility standard, which for websites and apps maps to WCAG 2.1 Level AA.
That's good news if you've already worked on accessibility for another market: a WCAG 2.1 AA-conformant site largely satisfies the EAA's technical bar too.
Penalties vary by country — here's what that means
Because the EAA is a directive, not a regulation, it doesn't set one EU-wide fine. Each member state transposes it into national law with its own enforcement authority and penalty range. In Germany, the Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz (BFSG) allows fines of up to €100,000, enforced by the state-level Marktüberwachungsbehörden. In Italy, Decreto Legislativo 82/2022 sets fines from €5,000 to €40,000, rising to up to 5% of annual turnover for repeat violations, overseen by AgID.
If you sell into multiple EU countries, you're potentially exposed to more than one enforcement regime at once. See our dedicated guides for Germany, Italy, and the EU-wide overview for the specifics of each.
How to actually become compliant
Compliance isn't a single checkbox — it's a process. In practice: run an automated WCAG scan to catch code-level issues fast (missing alt text, unlabeled form fields, missing document structure, broken ARIA references); fix what the scan finds; do a manual review of what automated tools structurally can't catch (color contrast on CSS-class-based styles, keyboard-only navigation, screen reader behavior, focus order); publish an accessibility statement describing your conformance status honestly; and re-scan after every significant site change, since accessibility regresses quietly when new code ships.
One thing to avoid: relying on a JavaScript overlay widget as your only fix. Overlays layer on top of your existing code without fixing it, and several have drawn regulatory and legal scrutiny for overstating what they deliver — see our honest comparison of overlays vs. code-level fixes for the details.
Check where your site stands
Run a free automated WCAG scan in about 20 seconds. It won't replace a manual audit, but it's an honest first read on your EAA exposure.
Scan your site free →Does the EAA apply to my business if I'm not based in the EU?
What's the deadline?
Is my business exempt if it's small?
Does a WCAG scan alone make me compliant?
Do I need an accessibility statement?
Is an overlay widget enough?
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Whether the EAA applies to your specific business, and exactly what it requires, depends on your situation, your country, and your product category — consult a lawyer for a binding assessment.
Germany (BFSG) guide · Italy (Legge Stanca) guide · EU (EAA) guide · Overlay vs. code fix · Methodology · BFSG: what German businesses must do · Do accessibility overlays make you compliant?