Episode 07 — EAA Readiness: The clock has already started

HOST A:  I want to open with a date, because I think a lot of listeners may not realize this has already happened, not something still on the horizon. In June 2025, the European Accessibility Act — the EAA — came into effect.

HOST B:  Came into effect. Past tense. Not “is coming.”

HOST A:  Past tense. It’s already enforceable law. And it requires retailers selling into the EU to provide accessible digital experiences. Full stop — that’s the requirement.

HOST B:  So the obvious next question is: who does this actually apply to? Because I think a lot of companies might assume “we’re not based in Europe, so this isn’t really about us.”

HOST A:  That assumption is exactly what makes this episode necessary, because it’s wrong, and the data shows a lot of companies are currently operating on that wrong assumption. Seventy-one percent of eCommerce leaders surveyed by accessiBe have confirmed that they sell their products and services to the EU.

HOST B:  Seventy-one percent. That’s the vast majority of eCommerce businesses in this survey, regardless of where they’re physically headquartered.

HOST A:  Right — the EAA isn’t about where your company is incorporated or where your warehouse is. It’s about whether you’re selling to consumers in the EU. If you ship products to European customers, or you operate a digital service available to them, you’re in scope, regardless of whether your headquarters are in Ohio or Osaka.

HOST B:  And here’s where I think the real story of this episode lives. How many of that seventy-one percent are actually ready?

HOST A:  This is the number that should genuinely concern anyone listening: eighty-five percent say they are not fully prepared for EAA compliance.

HOST B:  Eighty-five percent of the companies that are already selling into a market where this is now enforceable law, say they are not ready for the law that already applies to them.

HOST A:  Let’s look at the more detailed breakdown, because the report gives a more granular view than just “ready or not.” Seventy-one percent sell to the EU. Of those, only thirty-four percent say they’re prepared. Sixty-six percent say they’re not fully prepared. And nineteen percent say they’re not prepared at all.

HOST B:  So even among companies that know they’re selling into this market, only about a third feel genuinely ready, and roughly one in five admit they haven’t done meaningful preparation at all.

HOST A:  And I want to be really direct about what’s at stake here, because this isn’t an abstract compliance gap. Non-compliance can result in fines of up to five hundred thousand euros per violation.

HOST B:  Five hundred thousand euros. Per violation — not per company, not as a one-time cap.

HOST A:  Per violation. Which means a company with multiple distinct accessibility failures across their site — say, an inaccessible checkout flow and an inaccessible product catalog and an inaccessible customer account portal — could be looking at fines that stack across each of those separately, in theory, depending on how enforcement plays out.

HOST B:  This is a meaningfully bigger number than the five-thousand-to-twenty-five-thousand-dollar settlement range we talked about for U.S. lawsuits back in episode two.

HOST A:  A different order of magnitude entirely. And I think that gap matters strategically — U.S. litigation, while real and increasingly common, has often functioned more like an ongoing cost-of-doing-business risk, the kind we discussed in episode two. The EAA introduces a regulatory penalty structure that’s both larger per incident and tied to formal government enforcement, not plaintiff-driven litigation.

HOST B:  Let’s talk about what’s actually required under the EAA, because “accessible digital experiences” is a fairly broad phrase. What does it concretely mean for an eCommerce retailer?

HOST A:  The EAA covers a range of digital products and services, but for eCommerce specifically, it touches things like your website and mobile app needing to meet recognized accessibility standards, your checkout and payment processes needing to be usable by people with disabilities, your customer service and support channels needing accessible alternatives, and your product information needing to be presented in ways that are perceivable and understandable, regardless of someone’s sensory or cognitive ability.

HOST B:  And presumably the standard being referenced here is the same WCAG 2.1 AA framework we discussed in episode two.

HOST A:  That’s exactly right, and I think it’s actually one of the more reassuring parts of this whole topic, even though the stakes are high. You’re not dealing with one standard for U.S. litigation defense and a completely different, unrelated standard for EU regulatory compliance. WCAG 2.1 AA is functioning as the common reference point across both. So the work a company does to reduce litigation exposure domestically is largely the same work that builds EAA readiness internationally.

HOST B:  That’s a genuinely useful piece of news buried inside what’s otherwise a pretty alarming episode.

HOST A:  It is. The work doesn’t multiply just because the jurisdictions do. Let’s talk about why eighty-five percent of companies are behind, though, because I think understanding the reason matters as much as the statistic itself.

HOST B:  What’s your read on it?

HOST A:  I think a big part of it is that regulation like this tends to feel distant until enforcement actually starts happening visibly. A law going into effect in June 2025 doesn’t necessarily mean meaningful enforcement actions and fines start landing immediately — there’s often a runway before regulators ramp up active enforcement. And I think a lot of companies are, consciously or not, treating that runway as more time than it actually is.

HOST B:  Which is risky, because regulatory bodies generally don’t announce in advance exactly when they’re going to start actively pursuing cases.

HOST A:  Right, and the companies that wait for the first wave of visible enforcement actions before taking this seriously are choosing to be reactive instead of proactive — which, going back to episode two’s framing on litigation, tends to be the more expensive path in basically every version of this story we’ve covered so far in the season.

HOST B:  Let’s get practical. If someone listening realizes they’re part of that eighty-five percent — not fully prepared — what’s the actual starting point?

HOST A:  I’d start with the same foundational move we’ve recommended in earlier episodes: an actual audit, specifically benchmarked against WCAG 2.1 AA, covering your full digital footprint — website, mobile app, checkout, customer service channels. From there, prioritize based on both severity and frequency of use — checkout and core navigation first, since that’s both highest legal exposure and highest revenue impact, consistent with what we covered in episode three. Then build an ongoing compliance practice, not a one-time fix, because the EAA isn’t a deadline you hit once and forget — it’s an ongoing legal obligation for as long as you’re selling into that market.

HOST B:  And document the process along the way, presumably — for the same good-faith reasons we discussed regarding litigation defense.

HOST A:  Exactly the same logic applies here. Being able to demonstrate an active, ongoing accessibility program — audits, remediation logs, an accessibility statement — matters if you’re ever scrutinized by a regulator, in much the same way it matters if you’re ever facing a U.S. lawsuit.

HOST B:  Let’s close with the framing the report uses, because I think it correctly reframes this from pure threat into something more useful. For brands with global ambitions, accessibility is the key to market eligibility.

HOST A:  That’s the line, and I think “market eligibility” is the right phrase, not just “risk avoidance.” Compliance ensures retailers can compete in Europe and the U.K. at all. Which means the real way to think about this isn’t “how do we avoid a fine,” it’s “accessibility is now a basic requirement to even participate in one of the largest consumer markets in the world.”

HOST B:  Turning regulation into a growth opportunity rather than a barrier, as the report puts it.

HOST A:  Exactly that framing. And it sets up our next episode well, because the EAA is only part of the global picture — there’s also the U.K., with its own distinct legal framework, and the broader question of what it actually means to sell accessibly across multiple jurisdictions at once without your compliance strategy turning into a fragmented mess.

HOST B:  Which is exactly what we’re covering next time — selling globally without getting burned.

HOST A:  See you there.

HOST B:  Thanks for listening.