Does the EAA apply to you?
The European Accessibility Act has applied since 28 June 2025. Whether it covers your website depends on what you sell and to whom, not on how big the site is.
Services the Act covers
The Act, Directive (EU) 2019/882, lists consumer services. For websites the ones that matter most are:
- e-commerce, which means selling products or services to consumers online,
- consumer banking,
- e-books and the software used to read them,
- telecoms services,
- the websites, apps and e-tickets of passenger transport.
A plain B2B company website that sells nothing to consumers is generally not covered.
Who is exempt
Microenterprises that provide services are exempt. A microenterprise has fewer than 10 staff and a turnover or balance sheet of up to €2 million. The exemption is for services only; products are still covered.
Each EU country wrote the Act into its own law. Details and penalties differ, so check the law of the country where your customers are.
What it asks of a website
The service has to be accessible, and you have to publish information about how it meets the requirements. In practice the technical yardstick is the European standard EN 301 549, which for the web points to WCAG at level AA.
Three checks you can do today
- Put the mouse away and buy something with the keyboard alone. Can you always see where the focus is?
- Zoom the browser to 400%. Does the text still fit without scrolling sideways?
- Submit a form with an error. Is the error described in words next to the field?
If any of the three fails, a full audit will find more. These checks are a start, not a result.