The European Accessibility Act (EAA) 2025: What it means for your business

What's in the blog?

What is the EAA?
What is the purpose of the EAA?
Who does the EAA apply to?
Examples of exempt and non-exempt businesses
The impact of the EAA
Which industries are affected by the EAA?
How to prepare your business for the EAA?
Summary
Additional tools, support and resources
Frequently asked questions

The EAA stands for the European Accessibility Act, a new directive that aims to make products and services more accessible to people with disabilities across the European Union (EU).

Whilst other accessibility laws and regulations already exist in the UK, such as PSBAR and the Equality Act, the key difference about the EAA is that it impacts private and public sector organisations that operate in EU countries. The new legislation also applies to physical products, digital products, and services.

PWC reports that over 80 million people in the European Union live with some form of disability, and this number is on the rise.

Therefore, the EAA aims to improve access to products and services for people with disabilities in the EU and beyond. The benefits of the EAA and creating inclusive products and services are:

• 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.

While every business should strive to create better experiences for all its users, the EAA will not affect every business. More on that below.

The EAA applies to the customer's location, not the business's. If you market or sell to EU customers - like offering EU language options, accepting EU currencies, or directly selling to the EU - you must comply with the EAA. Plain and simply, the directive applies to:

• Any company operating within the EU - including UK and US businesses.
• Any company with over 10 employees and an annual turnover exceeding €2 million.
• Physical and digital products and services, exported into Europe.

The EAA goes beyond UK accessibility laws affecting the public sector and covers “services essential to participation in society” like banking and e-commerce.

For clarity, I have outlined two examples below to demonstrate companies that must comply with the EAA and those exempt from it.

If you are a travel company based in London, but the customer you are dealing with is in Austria, the EAA would apply to you.

If your business exports to Europe but is considered a microenterprise, with fewer than 10 employees and an annual turnover not exceeding €2 million, the EAA would not apply to you.

Given the range of products and services covered in the list below, the EAA is poised to influence many businesses within and outside the EU that cater to the European market.

The Purple Pound, also known as the combined spending power of disabled people and their households, is estimated at £274 billion per year in the UK alone. Therefore, complying with the EAA can have an extremely positive impact on businesses and potentially reach 24% more consumers in Europe.

The EAA will impact public and private sector companies that operate in Europe and have physical or digital products and services.

The industries that need to prepare for the EAA are products and services essential to participation in society. They are basic products and services provided by manufacturers, importers and distributors and ICT service providers, which 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
• Passenger travel services related to air, bus, rail and water.
• Banking services
• E-books
• E-commerce

Every organisation should strive to be accessible to its customers because it is the right thing to do. But it is even more important now, with the implications of fines of up to €20,000 per violation and legal action for non-compliance.

Public and private sector organisations operating in Europe must take a structured and proactive approach to achieving compliance with the European Accessibility Act (EAA) by the June 28, 2025, deadline.

Given the potential legal implications of the EAA, UK businesses are advised to conduct thorough accessibility audits of their digital platforms, physical products and services. Here are the essential steps your company should take:

• Accessibility audits - evaluate your digital assets and review physical products and services.
• Accessibility statement: Include accurate information about your website's compliance, including contact details for assitance or formal complaints.
• Provide training and raise awareness - educate and support your team to understand accessibility requirements and best practices.
• Maintain accessibility compliance - regularly test your online and offline products with accessibility tools, and stay informed with laws, directives and regulations.

Organisations will require a proactive approach to accessibility audits to achieve compliance with the EAA by June 28, 2025. To audit your website, you can use automated accessibility testing tools, like Insytful, to identify accessibility failings. Automated testing tools can find accessibility issues on your website, such as:

• Images with missing alt text
• Documents do not have title text
• Links do not have a discernible name
• Buttons do not have an accessible name
• Web content with insufficient colour contrast ratios

In addition to automated testing, you should seek assistance from accessibility specialists who can manually audit your web content, too. Manual checks involve real users trying out your website to ensure it is usable for disabled people.

A combined approach is the best way for businesses operating in the EU to implement necessary adjustments to meet accessibility standards.

Accessibility audits aren't a one-time event. They need to become part of a continual improvement process to maintain your digital and physical product and service offerings. Without continual audits, your organisation could risk non-compliance with the EAA and exclude users of your products and services.

To maintain compliance, training should be provided to give your team the confidence that their content is accessible. At Zengenti, we use the Digital Accessibility Centre for training with our team and audits of our products and services.

Once your website, product and services meet the EAA criteria, the next step for your organisation is to keep it that way. To maintain accessibility compliance, be sure to:

• Run regular accessibility audits - using tools like Insytful.
• Seek specialist advice and consultancy - for training and best practices.
• Stay informed with the evolution of accessibility governance.

The introduction of new legislation can be daunting for any business. It can be especially worrying if there are implications for non-compliance, too. By following the steps outlined above, your organisation can feel confident in its approach to meeting the European Accessibility Act requirements.

In addition to the steps above, contact the Insytful team if you need more guidance on the EAA, or sign up for a free account to start auditing 100 pages of your website for free.

Here's what we've covered:

• The European Accessibility Act (EAA) will affect almost all businesses that operate in EU countries.
• The EAA will positively impact over 80 million people in the European Union who live with some form of disability.
• Businesses could reach up to 24% more consumers in the EU by complying with the EAA.
• Public sector and private sector organisations will need to comply to the EAA by 28 June 2025.
• Organisations that fail to comply will face legal action and fines up to €20,000 per violation.
• To comply with the EAA, accessibility audits, accessibility statements and training will need to take place.
• Insytful can help website owners find and fix inaccessible content.

The Digital Accessibility Centre provides a deeper dive into the EAA and can provide consultancy and training to prepare your business for the June deadline.

The Business Disability Forum has free and paid online courses, resources, and training videos for your team.

A11y Weekly is a newsletter curated by David A. Kennedy that is focused on accessibility news and insights. It is sent out on Mondays.

Insytful is a web application that can help make your website accessible. Users can get started for free and also make use of accessibility help and guidance on the blog.

Yes, your website is affected by the EAA legislation if your company has customers in Europe. The EAA's web accessibility requirements are based on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 level AA criteria.

Yes, the European Accessibility Act does apply to UK businesses operating in Europe. Although the UK isn’t signed up to the EAA, websites that operate or sell products within the European Union must comply with it. Businesses not complying with the EAA after 28 June can face penalties.

Yes, any organistion that supplies products and services to customers who are based in Europe must comply to the EAA. That includes public and private sector organisations.

Yes, the EAA applies to both physical and digital products and services.

Physical products include but are not limited to, ATM machines, self-service check-in desks, computers and hardware, smartphones and televisions.

Digital products and services include online platforms, such as websites, e-commerce sites and apps, eBooks, and telephone and messaging services.

Non-compliance with the European Accessibility Act (EAA) can lead to

• Legal action filed in EU courts.
• Bans and operational restrictions on offering goods and services within the EU.
• Significant penalties imposed through EU consumer protection networks.

All which vary across EU member states. Non-compliance can also be escalated to the European Commission.

Specific penalties can vary per country, but fines can range from €5,000 to €300,000 per violation, depending on the severity. Ongoing non-compliance may result in daily penalties of up to €1,000.