The European Accessibility Act (EAA) came into force on June 28, 2025, requiring businesses across the EU to ensure their websites, apps, and digital services are accessible to people with disabilities.
If your organization hasn’t yet reached full compliance — or you’re not sure where you stand — this guide explains what the law covers, what EN 301549 requires, and how to take action.
What is the EAA, and what does EN 301549 have to do with it?
The European Accessibility Act (EAA) was adopted by the European Union in 2019 to make sure digital products and services are accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities.
The EAA requires products and services to comply with accessibility requirements based on “harmonized standards”, a principal one of which is expected to be EN 301549 – a technical standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI).
EN 301549 outlines the official accessibility requirements for websites, mobile apps, and other digital tools, and serves as the main reference point for evaluating whether a product or service meets the law’s expectations.
Who does the EAA apply to?
The EAA applies to both public and private sectors.
Already bound by the Web Accessibility Directive, public sector websites and apps will now see those requirements reinforced by the EAA.
What’s new is the expanded reach into the private sector.
For the first time, many private businesses will be legally required to ensure their digital products and services are accessible to people with disabilities.
EAA by industry
The EAA doesn’t apply to every business or industry. Instead, it clearly defines the types of products and services that fall under its scope.
These include:
- Computers and operating systems
- Telephone services and related equipment
- Audiovisual media services (such as television broadcasts and related consumer devices)
- Passenger transport services (including air, bus, and rail travel)
- Banking services
- eCommerce platforms
While these categories are largely made up of private sector services, public organizations offering similar products or services may also be required to comply with the EAA.
Enterprises vs. microenterprises
The EAA applies to companies it categorizes as enterprises. Organizations with fewer than 10 employees and less than €2 million in annual turnover are considered microenterprises, and will likely be exempt from the EAA’s service-related requirements.
However, if you manufacture products covered by the EAA – such as smartphones, payment terminals, or other consumer tech – you may still need to meet certain accessibility obligations, even if you qualify as a microenterprise.
What do you need to do to comply with the EAA?
The EAA doesn’t set specific technical standards for accessibility.
Instead, it outlines general requirements and leaves room for flexibility in how those requirements are met.
According to the EAA’s official Fact Sheet, the law will “not impose detailed technical solutions telling how to make” a site compliant. That means businesses have the freedom to choose how they meet accessibility goals, as long as the end result is inclusive.
That said, EN 301549 is widely recognized as and expected to be the standard to follow under the EAA.
While the law doesn’t mention it by name, EN 301549 is already widely used by public sector organizations when selecting digital services. It was also repeatedly referenced throughout the legislative process, making it the expected benchmark for evaluating compliance.
A deeper dive into EN 301549 conformance
Developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), EN 301549 is the official accessibility standard of the European Union for digital products and services.
It outlines detailed technical requirements to ensure websites, applications, and other digital tools are accessible to all users, including those with disabilities.
EN 301549 is built on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) – specifically WCAG 2.1 Level AA.
Developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), WCAG is the standard for compliance under laws like Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). It is also referenced by many courts when ruling on web accessibility cases under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Ultimately, complying with the EAA through EN 301549 entails meeting the guidelines set out in WCAG 2.1 Level AA.
What does adhering to WCAG actually entail?
Since WCAG 2.1 Level AA conformance is central to meeting EN 301549 – and, by extension, complying with the EAA – it’s worth understanding what that actually entails.
Some of the key guidelines you’ll need to follow include:
- Provide descriptive alt text for meaningful images
- Ensure your website is operable using only a keyboard
- Ensure sufficient contrast between text or meaningful icons and their background
- Allow users to resize text up to 200% without losing content or functionality
- Use consistent navigation and heading structures across your website
- Identify form input errors clearly and explain how to correct them
- Display visible focus indicators when users tab through elements using a keyboard
- Avoid using color alone to convey meaning
While these are important action items, the full list of requirements for WCAG 2.1 Level AA conformance is quite extensive. In addition to core web design and development practices, WCAG also covers aspects like structure, semantics, focus management, and responsive behavior. You can find a more in-depth EAA compliance checklist by pressing here.
It’s also important to note that web accessibility applies to more than just your website’s layout or code.
Under WCAG, PDFs, videos, and other online assets must also be configured so that they can be accessed by everyone, regardless of ability:
- For PDFs, this means using proper heading structures and tags for screen reader navigation, and including alt text for any embedded images, among other requirements
- For videos, this means providing captions for spoken content, transcripts for audio, and audio descriptions for key visual elements, among other requirements
To explore WCAG in more depth and get a comprehensive understanding of what full conformance entails, we recommend you check out these resources:
Take the necessary steps to comply with the EAA
EAA compliance calls for a comprehensive approach — one that addresses your live website, your online assets, and your development pipeline. accessiBe’s three-layer platform is built for exactly this: accessWidget for continuous AI-powered monitoring and remediation, accessFlow for developer-native testing integrated into your CI/CD pipeline and IDE, and accessServices for expert audits, document remediation, and compliance documentation. Whether you’re starting from scratch or building on an existing accessibility program, accessiBe scales with your needs — while adhering to the security and compliance standards relevant to European organizations.
A solution for each step of the accessibility journey
Whether you’re just getting started or building on an existing accessibility strategy, accessiBe offers solutions that scale with your need, while adhering to the security and compliance standards relevant to European organizations.
Here are some of the tools and services that support different stages of the journey:
1. accessWidget
accessWidget helps websites meet many core WCAG 2.1 Level AA guidelines through AI-driven testing and remediation. It helps make your website compatible with screen readers and allows for keyboard-only navigation, quickly helping you reach high levels of accessibility and compliance.
Organizations with more advanced compliance requirements, such as those with complex websites or industry-specific needs, can benefit from manual testing and custom remediation (MTCR), as well.
Combining AI and human expertise, MTCR starts with an audit of key user journeys on your site. The insights gathered inform targeted adjustments to accessWidget, helping it better support those specific flows and improve accessibility.
For development teams building or updating EAA-compliant digital services, accessFlow provides the developer-native testing layer that catches issues before they reach production.
2. accessServices
Accessibility extends beyond your site’s structure and interface; it also applies to the assets you publish and share.
accessServices provides targeted testing and remediation for online content such as PDFs, and videos.
Organizations seeking a comprehensive accessibility audit can rely on accessServices, which offers the opportunity to include individuals with diverse disabilities in the testing process, ensuring that real-world experiences inform and guide meaningful accessibility improvements.
accessServices also produces VPAT/ACR documentation for organizations whose clients or procurement processes require formal conformance records.
3. accessFlow
For organizations building or maintaining digital services that must comply with the EAA, accessFlow brings accessibility into the development process itself — where fixing issues is fastest and cheapest. accessFlow integrates WCAG 2.1-aligned accessibility testing directly into CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, CircleCI, GitLab) and IDEs (VS Code, Cursor, Claude Code via MCP), so developers catch and fix accessibility barriers as they write code, before they ever reach your live service. accessFlow also includes Journeys for end-to-end user flow testing — ensuring that critical service paths like registration, checkout, account management, and form submission are accessible before going live. For team leads and project managers, accessFlow provides centralized visibility across all accessibility issues, integrated with issue tracking tools like Jira, Asana, and ClickUp.
Book a one-on-one demo with an accessibility expert and find a plan tailored to your needs →
