European Accessibility Act: does it apply to your website?

If you sell online to people in the EU, you've probably had a few emails about the European Accessibility Act by now, some of them from vendors with a deadline to sell you. This guide sticks to what the law says: who it covers, what it asks for, and what happens if you ignore it.

What is the European Accessibility Act?

The European Accessibility Act (Directive (EU) 2019/882 (opens in a new tab)) is an EU law that sets common accessibility requirements for certain products and services sold to consumers, including e-commerce, consumer banking, e-books, transport ticketing and electronic communications. It was adopted on 17 April 2019 and has applied across the EU since 28 June 2025.

People talk about “the EAA” as if it were one rulebook. It's really three layers:

• The directive sets the goals, the scope and the deadlines. It's addressed to governments, so it doesn't bind your business directly.
• Your national law is what actually applies to you, such as the Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz (BFSG) in Germany or Ley 11/2023 in Spain. Each one names its own regulators and penalties.
• The technical standard, EN 301 549, is how you show in practice that you meet the requirements. For websites and apps it points to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

If someone quotes you a fine, ask which country's law it comes from.

When did the EAA start to apply, and what changes in 2027 and 2030?

The EAA has applied since 28 June 2025. Member states had to adopt their national laws by 28 June 2022 and apply them from 28 June 2025 (Article 31). A few transition periods run longer: service contracts and equipment already in place before June 2025 can carry on until 28 June 2030 at the latest.

The 2030 date is the one people misread most. It isn't a grace period for websites: a shop launched in 2026 has to meet the rules now. Only contracts and equipment already in place before June 2025 get extra time.

Which websites and apps does the EAA cover?

The EAA covers websites and apps used to provide six kinds of consumer service: e-commerce, consumer banking, electronic communications, access to audiovisual media, e-books, and parts of air, bus, rail and waterborne passenger transport. E-commerce is the broadest category, because it includes any site or app through which consumers can conclude a contract at a distance.

The directive defines e-commerce services as “services provided at a distance, through websites and mobile device-based services by electronic means and at the individual request of a consumer with a view to concluding a consumer contract” (Article 3(30)). If a customer can buy, book or subscribe through your site or app, it's very likely in scope: a clothing shop on Shopify, a hotel's booking engine, a meal-kit subscription.

Some cases are less clear. A restaurant site that only shows the menu and a phone number probably isn't an e-commerce service, because no contract is concluded through it. Add online ordering and it probably is. Grey areas like table-reservation forms are exactly where your regulator's guidance, or a lawyer, is worth asking.

What content is left out?

Even on a covered site, Article 2(4) excludes:

• pre-recorded audio and video, and office documents such as PDFs, published before 28 June 2025;
• online maps, as long as the essential information for finding your way is also given in an accessible digital form;
• third-party content that you neither fund, develop nor control;
• archived content that hasn't been updated or edited since 28 June 2025.

Don't stretch the third-party exclusion too far. A checkout plug-in or chat tool you chose and pay for is hard to describe as content you don't fund or control. The EAA also covers products such as computers, payment terminals and e-readers, but for a website the service rules are what matter.

Does the EAA apply to small businesses?

Only partly. Microenterprises that provide services are exempt from the service requirements. A microenterprise employs fewer than 10 people and has an annual turnover or annual balance sheet total of no more than €2 million (Article 3(23)). Small businesses above that line are covered, and microenterprises that make or sell covered products aren't exempt.

Both parts of the test matter. An online shop with 6 staff and €1.5 million turnover is a microenterprise. A shop with 6 staff and €3 million turnover still qualifies if its balance sheet total is €2 million or less. A 12-person shop is covered, however small its turnover.

Article 4(5) exempts only microenterprises providing services, so a five-person company that makes e-readers still has to meet the product rules.

Two caveats. National laws can differ: Belgium's federal law exempts microenterprises only until 28 June 2030 (Loi du 5 novembre 2023, art. 40 (opens in a new tab)). And the exemption removes a legal duty, not the problem. A customer who can't get through your checkout with a screen reader still leaves, whatever your headcount.

Does the EAA apply to companies outside the EU, B2B sites or the UK?

Yes for companies outside the EU that sell to EU consumers, and generally no for sales made only to businesses. The directive covers anyone who provides a service on the EU market or offers it to consumers in the EU (Article 3(4)), wherever they're registered. A UK or US shop selling to EU consumers is in scope for those sales.

• Non-EU sellers. What counts is who you sell to. If your shop ships to customers in France, French law applies to that service. Sales to customers outside the EU aren't covered.
• B2B. E-commerce under the directive means a contract with a consumer, a person buying outside their trade or profession (Article 3(22)). A wholesale portal for registered businesses only is generally outside it; a site selling to both is in scope for its consumer sales.
• United Kingdom. The EAA isn't UK law, but UK businesses selling to EU consumers fall under the laws of the countries they sell into. At home, the Equality Act 2010 requires reasonable adjustments without setting a technical web standard, and the public-sector accessibility regulations (opens in a new tab) cover only public bodies.

What standard do you have to meet?

In practice, EN 301 549, which for websites means WCAG 2.1 Level AA today. The directive itself lists functional requirements rather than a WCAG level. The current reference is EN 301 549 v3.2.1 (2021), and version 4.1.1, published in September 2026, moves to WCAG 2.2 Level AA once the Commission cites it in the Official Journal.

AccessibleEU (opens in a new tab), the Commission's accessibility resource centre, says v4.1.1 “is not yet the legal reference standard”. Once it's cited, meeting it will give a presumption of conformity with the EAA. Nobody can tell you the date yet.

Our suggestion: build and test against WCAG 2.2 Level AA now. It includes everything in WCAG 2.1 apart from one obsolete criterion, so you cover both. What's new in WCAG 2.2 explains the nine new criteria, and our WCAG overview covers the levels.

What information do you have to publish?

Service providers must publish information on how their service meets the accessibility requirements, “in the general terms and conditions, or equivalent document” (Annex V). It has to describe the service in accessible formats and explain how the requirements are met. Under Article 13(2), it must be public in written and oral format for as long as the service runs.

National laws can add to the list, for example by asking you to name the regulator. Many businesses publish it on one accessibility page, linked from the footer and their terms, much like an accessibility statement. Our guide on how to write an accessibility statement has a template that covers both, and the statement docs go further.

If you think a requirement would be a disproportionate burden, saying so isn't enough. Article 14 asks for a documented assessment, renewed at least every five years, and you must tell the relevant authorities, though microenterprises are spared that step.

Who enforces the EAA, and what are the fines?

Each country appoints its own regulators and sets its own penalties, which must be “effective, proportionate and dissuasive” (Article 30). For an online shop, the regulator is usually a consumer or market surveillance authority. Maximum fines run from a few thousand euros to €1 million or more, and some are tied to turnover.

These are ceilings, not what a business with a fixable problem is likely to pay. Figures also get copied wrongly online, so check your own country's law before relying on a number.

What should you do first?

Check whether you're in scope, then test and fix the journeys that matter most to customers, publish honest information about where you stand, and build accessibility into how you change the site. Most of it is ordinary product work done in a sensible order, not a one-off legal project.

1. Check your scope. List the services you offer to EU consumers, the countries you sell into, and your headcount and turnover. If you're near the microenterprise line, write down how you worked it out.
2. Test your key journeys: search, product pages, basket, checkout and login. Use free automated tools, then check by hand with a keyboard and a screen reader, as our guide on how to test your website's accessibility explains.
3. Fix in order of harm. A checkout button keyboard users can't reach matters more than a pale footer link. The website accessibility checklist covers the most common failures.
4. Publish your accessibility information, including what isn't fixed yet and how to contact you.
5. Make it routine. Article 13(3) expects procedures that keep the service conforming as it changes, so check accessibility whenever you update the theme or add a third-party tool.
6. Ask when it's unclear. For scope or exemption questions, talk to a lawyer or your national regulator.

Where does an accessibility widget fit?

No widget makes a website compliant with the EAA, and that includes ours. The European Commission says tools “which do not ensure the website itself meets the detailed criteria of the standard, are not an appropriate solution” (Commission, Web Accessibility (opens in a new tab)). A widget can still help some visitors, as one layer on top of a properly built site.

SiteAccessible lets visitors adjust contrast, text size and reading aids. It doesn't fix your code, replace audits or testing with disabled people, or give you legal protection.