The European Accessibility Act came into force in June 2025. If you sell digital products or services to consumers in the EU, compliance is no longer optional. Here is what you need to know.
What the EAA Requires
Scope
The EAA applies to a wide range of consumer-facing digital products and services: websites and mobile applications, e-commerce platforms, digital banking services, e-books, audio-visual media services, and consumer electronics with digital interfaces. It is broader in scope than most organisations initially expect.
The Technical Standard
Compliance is assessed against EN 301 549, which incorporates WCAG 2.1 Level AA guidelines. If your digital products already meet WCAG 2.1 AA, you are well positioned for EAA compliance — though additional requirements apply for certain product categories.
WCAG 2.1 AA compliance is not just an EU legal requirement. It also improves search engine visibility, reduces legal risk in the UK, and ensures that the people you are trying to reach — including people with disabilities, those using assistive technology, and older users — can actually use what you build.
Who Needs to Act
Businesses Selling Into the EU
If you sell products or services to consumers in any EU member state, the EAA applies to you regardless of where your business is based. UK organisations are not exempt because of Brexit — if you have EU customers, you are in scope.
Mission-Driven Organisations
Charities, nonprofits, and mission-driven organisations that operate programmes or services in the EU are within scope. For many of these organisations, accessibility is not only a legal requirement but a core operational commitment — the people they serve are often among those most affected by inaccessible digital.
Where to Start
An Accessibility Audit
The first step is an honest assessment of your current compliance position. An accessibility audit reviews your digital presence against WCAG 2.1 AA criteria, identifies failures, and produces a prioritised remediation plan. Most organisations are surprised by how many issues a thorough audit surfaces — and by how many of them are straightforward to fix.
Ongoing Compliance
Accessibility is not a one-time fix. Every update to your website, every new piece of content, every new feature adds potential failure points. The organisations that maintain compliance over time are those that build accessibility review into their standard development and content workflows.
