The European Accessibility Act 2025: It May Apply to Your Web Site - (r)

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In many countries, government websites have to be made accessible to everyone, also for people with a disability. However, from June 2025 in 2025, the European Accessibility Act (EAA) will be enforced throughout the European Union member states. This also applies to ecommerce sites such as websites. Your webshop perhaps?

The European Accessibility Act in Short

The EAA is the name of a directive (Directive 2019/882). Every member state must to turn this directive into their own legislation that affects products and the provision of services. In June 2025, the legislation will be enforced throughout the EU states.

For more details, some the examples of these goods and services include:

• News publishing sites with a subscription option;
• Selling of goods and services;
• Platforms for advertising;
• Professional services (e.g. doctors, lawyers, real estate agents);
• Offering entertainment and media services;
• Telecommunications service sales.

Does your site belong to this list?

Microenterprises don't have to comply But they must plan for the future

Making a website that is already accessible can be quite an effort. A burden too big to be borne by small businesses. Thus, small-scale businesses don't need to be compliant in 2025 under the EAA.

Microenterprise has been defined as "an company that employs less than 10 employees and that has an annual turnover or one-time balance sheet that is not greater than 2 million euros."

Plan to plan for the next. In a few years, will you still be a microenterprise? Please mind, regardless of your plans, accessibility to your website can increase sales revenue because more people have access to the website. It is always a great idea.

Web Accessibility as well as the WCAG Guidelines

Focus on the features, especially the services provided by a site. Websites must have to be "accessible." That means that the site needs be accessible to as many people as possible with as many different devices as possible.

But how do you measure web accessibility?

Websites are accessible if it is in compliance with WCAG The web content Accessibility Guidelines. WCAG is an established set of guidelines that includes each a set of success requirements that a website must be able to meet.

WCAG has 3 levels, A is basic, A is the standard worldwide while level AAA is dedicated software but not really intended meant for websites. For WCAG AA, there are 50 criteria for success (all of level A plus level AA together).

As an example, the Guideline 1.2 - Time-based media states: "Provide alternatives for time-based media".

One of the success criteria can be 1.2.2 Captions (Prerecorded) Level A: "Captions are provided for all prerecorded audio content on media that has been synchronized, except in the case of an alternative to text and is clearly labeled for that purpose."

In short: Provide captions for the spoken language in a video, then deaf people also understand the content in a video.

Frequently Asked Questions About the European Accessibility Act

The Effort, All the Trouble, But Is this really worth the effort?

Absolutely, it's worth the effort. About 20% of people are benefited by accessibility on the internet. Not only visitors who are blind or have low vision or are deaf, but also people with motor impairment, anxiety, or Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). And even those who feel tired or irritable. People that could turn into buyers. Nobody is perfect all every day. Through the internet, you have the ability to connect with everyone.

How Will the EAA How Will the EAA Be Implemented?

My company is based outside the EU However, the company sells products in EU countries. Do I count?

If you offer products or services inside the European Union, your site needs to be accessible. The way in which this will be enforced is not clear.

Does the EAA apply to existing Sites or just to the new Sites?

If you do not update your site, which includes the information, you're not required to adhere to EAA directives. EAA directive. For a typical website, it's very unlikely.

I'm Required to Follow the EAA. Which Do I Do Right Now?

Follow these steps in 4 steps:

1. Examine the condition of accessibility for your site.
2. Verify if your current website developer is able to design and program for accessibility. If not, look for an agency that is able to.
3. Depending on the outcome of the first step: revamp or rebuild the website.
4. Train your content team to develop accessible content.

How do I locate an Internet Agency who is knowledgeable about accessibility?

Ask questions like: what is the level of their team educated, what accessible sites were they able to create and what guidelines do they use for building and developing a website? Is there details about accessibility on the website of the agency?

Still Need Help?

We give you 2 suggestions:

• Level Level Level Level, a WordPress agency in Rotterdam  in the Netherlands, is one of the few websites who create completely custom-built and easily accessible web sites.
• The A11Y Collective is an online education platform that enables web access. Anyone involved in the creation and maintaining web projects.

Summary

In June 2025 In June 2025, the European Accessibility Act (EAA) will come into force within European Union member states. The directive will apply to online commerce sites, including those that operate online, with at least 10 employees, and an annual turnover or account balance of not less than 2 million euros.

The websites have to be compliant to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) at the level of AA and the current version most likely to be version 2.2.

companies that are located outside of the EU but selling products or services in EU countries are also required to adhere to the accessibility rules.

In order to ensure compliance, companies need to evaluate whether their website is accessible. To do this, they should review the usability of their websites make sure that the web team is knowledgeable about accessibility, potentially modify or build the site as well as train their content team to create accessible content.

While this may require extra time, making websites accessible can bring many advantages, such as increased sales revenue and reaching out to a larger public.

Rian Rietveld

Rian is a specialist in accessibility for digital devices and web developer based in the Netherlands. She works for Level Level as an accessibility consultant, and also as a trainer for The A11Y Collective platform. She teaches Level Level's Level Level team and customers to develop accessible projects and is a speaker at WordCamps as well as conferences around the world.