The European Accessibility Act 2025: What You Need to Know

European Accessibility Act 2025

The European accessibility act is a directive that aims to improve accessibility across the European Union. Much like GDPR, this legislation establishes a unified set of rules that standardizes accessibility levels across member states and applies to all businesses operating in Europe. 

The legislation will benefit persons with disabilities and elderly people by creating:

• More accessible products and services in the market 
• Accessible products and services at more competitive prices
• Fewer barriers when accessing transport, education and the open labour market
• More jobs available where accessibility expertise is needed

Products and Services Covered

The European accessibility act covers products and services that have been identified as most important for persons with disabilities and most likely to have requirements that differ from country to country. The Commission consulted stakeholders and experts on accessibility, taking into account the obligations set forth in the UN convention on persons with disabilities. These products and services include:

• Computers and operating systems
• ATMs, ticketing and check-in machines
• Smartphones
• TV equipment related to digital television services
• Telephony services and related equipment
• Access to audio-visual media services such as television broadcast and related consumer equipment
• Services related to air, bus, rail and waterborne passenger transport
• Banking services
• E-books
• E-commerce

The scope of the EAA 2025

The scope of the EAA 2025 extends to several key areas, including:

• Digital accessibility: This will involve businesses that fall under the purview of the EAA ensuring accessibility across websites and digital services, so they align with the principles set out by the WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines).
• Audiovisual media accessibility: Companies that produce - or provide services related to - television equipment or streaming must incorporate accessibility features such as audio description and closed captions into their offerings.
• Banking accessibility: Easy and independent financial management for persons with disabilities is one of the driving principles of the EAA 2025. This means that digital and physical banking services will also require significant accessibility updates. For instance, ATMs must feature audio assistance to help the visually impaired operate them with ease. 
• Assistive technologies: The EAA calls for greater compatibility between digital products/services and assistive technologies such as speech recognition software.
• Electronic communication: This means that primary electronic communication methods must be easily accessed and used by disabled people. This includes email, messaging services, mobile phones, etc.

The key takeaway for SaaS can be summarized as such: If you produce software for anyone in the EU, you must make all efforts to ensure the output is accessible. There will be fines for companies that do not comply.

In more specific terms, software must be:

• Perceivable: This means providing text alternatives for non-text content (like images or audio), ensuring that content can be presented in different ways (such as by adjusting text size or contrast), and making sure that content is easily distinguishable regardless of the sensory abilities of the user.
• Operable: Operability means that users should be able to interact with the interface and navigate through the content effectively. For example, providing keyboard accessibility so that users who cannot use a mouse can still navigate.
• Understandable: This involves using clear and simple language, organising content logically, and providing instructions to help users understand how to interact with the content effectively.
• Robust: Robustness refers to the ability of web content to be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of users, including assistive technologies like screen readers and voice recognition software.

Are there penalties for non-compliance with the European Accessibility Act 2025?

Yes - Those found to be non-compliant after the June 28th 2025 deadline will be issued with a fine of up to €1,000,000 depending on the severity and context of the infraction.

Businesses will also be ordered to immediately resolve the accessibility issue(s) in question. Failing to do so may result in products/services being removed from the European market.