The European Accessibility Act: does your website have to be accessible?

The European Accessibility Act, Directive (EU) 2019/882, sets common accessibility requirements for selected products and services. Each member state implements it in its own law, and the rules have applied since June 28, 2025.

This article sorts out the key points from a website’s perspective. It isn’t legal advice: if you’re unsure whether your company falls under the rules, ask a lawyer.

Who it covers

For websites and apps, the most important part is services provided to consumers, including:

• e-commerce, meaning selling products and services to consumers through a website or app,
• consumer banking,
• electronic communications services,
• elements of passenger transport services: websites, apps and e-tickets,
• e-books and the software used to read them.

The rules also cover products such as computers, smartphones, ATMs and ticket machines, but that’s more a topic for manufacturers than for website owners.

The directive applies to companies offering these products and services to consumers in the EU, wherever they are based. That includes US companies selling to European customers.

Who is exempt

• Microenterprises providing services: companies with fewer than 10 employees whose annual turnover or balance sheet total doesn’t exceed €2 million.
• Business-only services. The rules concern services for consumers, so a wholesale store serving only businesses usually isn’t covered.
• Websites that only present the company. If a consumer can’t conclude a contract through the site, it usually isn’t an e-commerce service in the legal sense.

The rules also allow exceptions where meeting the requirements would be a disproportionate burden or would fundamentally alter the service. Such an exception has to be assessed and documented, though, not simply assumed.

What it means in practice for a website

The reference point for websites and apps is the European standard EN 301 549, which for web content points to the WCAG 2.1 guidelines at level AA. In practice that means, among other things:

1. Keyboard access. The whole purchase path works without a mouse, and the focused element is clearly visible.
2. Alternative text for product photos and icons that carry information.
3. Contrast for text and interface elements, which we covered in the article on brand colors.
4. Labeled form fields and error messages that say what to fix.
5. A correct heading structure, which lets screen readers navigate the page.
6. Zoom to 200% without losing content or functions.
7. Captions for videos that carry information customers need.
8. Accessibility information about the service made available to customers, for example in the terms or on a separate page.

In the US there is no direct equivalent, but the ADA is increasingly applied to websites in lawsuits, so the same work pays off there too.

Where to start

1. Establish whether the rules apply to you. Check whether you sell to consumers, what size your company is and whether any exemptions apply.
2. Audit the key paths: product page, cart, order form, payment, customer account. Automated tools find some of the problems, but they don’t replace going through the path with a keyboard and a screen reader.
3. Fix by impact. First the issues that block a purchase, then the rest.
4. Build accessibility into the process. Every new component and page should be checked before it’s published, not once every few years.

Even if the rules don’t cover you, an accessible website is simply easier for everyone to use, including on a phone in bright sunlight or one-handed. That’s why the websites we design are built from the start with screen reader and keyboard users in mind. Read more on our websites service.