European Accessibility Act (EAA) Compliance

The European Accessibility Act is Directive (EU) 2019/882 — an EU law that sets common accessibility requirements for a defined set of products and services, so they can be used by people with disabilities. It has applied since 28 June 2025 and is enforced through each member state's own national law. For websites and apps, the practical requirement is conforming to WCAG 2.1 Level AA, the standard referenced by EN 301 549.

It applies if you offer a covered product or service to consumers in the EU. The most common in-scope case is e-commerce — any online shop selling to EU consumers. Other covered services include consumer banking, e-books, electronic communications, passenger transport, and access to audiovisual media. It applies regardless of where your business is based: selling to EU consumers puts you in scope. Micro-enterprises providing services (fewer than 10 people and turnover or balance sheet of €2 million or less) are exempt from the accessibility requirements.

The harmonised standard is EN 301 549. Its Chapter 9 adopts the W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 at Level AA for web content. In practical terms, checking a website for EAA conformance means checking it against WCAG 2.1 AA — the same benchmark used by the ADA in the US and AODA in Canada. Meeting EN 301 549 gives a presumption of conformity with the law.

The EAA has applied since 28 June 2025. There are limited transition allowances: service contracts concluded before that date may continue until they expire but no later than 28 June 2030, and self-service terminals already in use may run until the end of their economic life, up to 20 years. New products and services offered to EU consumers today are expected to comply.

Yes. The obligation follows the market, not the company's location. If you place a covered product on the EU market or provide a covered service to consumers in the EU — for example, a US or UK online shop that ships to and sells to EU customers — you are an economic operator in scope. The micro-enterprise exemption for services still applies regardless of where you are based.

Only micro-enterprises that provide services are exempt from the accessibility requirements — defined as fewer than 10 employees and an annual turnover or balance sheet total not exceeding €2 million. That exemption does not extend to micro-enterprises that manufacture, import, or distribute covered products, which have their own (lighter) obligations. If you are above the micro-enterprise threshold, or you sell products, you are not exempt.

The EAA requires member states to set penalties that are effective, proportionate, and dissuasive, and to designate market-surveillance and enforcement authorities — but the exact penalties, procedures, and amounts are defined by each country's national law, so they vary across the EU. Enforcement can include complaints from consumers or organisations, authority investigations, orders to bring a service into conformity, and financial penalties. This page is not legal advice; confirm the specifics for the member states you operate in.

Run an automated scan against WCAG 2.1 AA, which is the web standard EN 301 549 (and therefore the EAA) requires. Paste your URL into WCAGsafe and it tests your pages against the WCAG 2.1 A and AA success criteria, lists each failure in plain English with the exact element and a fix, and gives you a score. An automated scan reliably catches the machine-testable criteria; some criteria still need a human check, which the report flags.

No automated tool can certify legal compliance, and none should claim to. EAA conformance is a self-declaration backed by evidence and subject to market surveillance — not a third-party certificate. An automated checker gives you fast, repeatable coverage of the machine-testable WCAG 2.1 AA criteria and a documented baseline; full conformance also depends on the manual judgement criteria and on keeping new content accessible over time.

EN 301 549 is the European harmonised standard for the accessibility of ICT products and services. It is the technical benchmark the EAA points to: meeting it gives a presumption of conformity with the law. For websites and web apps, its Chapter 9 incorporates WCAG 2.1 Level AA, so conforming your site to WCAG 2.1 AA is how you meet the web portion of EN 301 549.

Publishing an accessibility statement — declaring how your service meets the requirements, any known limitations, and how users can give feedback or request help — is the expected practice under EU accessibility rules and a strong signal of good faith. Keep the supporting audit documentation (what you tested, when, and the results) on file as evidence of conformance.

No, they are separate. The Web Accessibility Directive (EU 2016/2102) covers public-sector bodies' websites and apps. The European Accessibility Act (EU 2019/882) covers private-sector products and services like e-commerce, banking, and e-books. Both ultimately point to EN 301 549 and WCAG, so the technical work of conforming your website is the same; the difference is who is legally covered.