European Accessibility Act

The European Accessibility Act (EAA) is the EU law that pushes accessibility out of the public sector and into the everyday consumer market. Where earlier EU rules covered government websites and apps, the EAA reaches the products and services people buy and use every day — and it does so with a single set of requirements across all member states.

What it is

The EAA is EU Directive 2019/882. As a directive it sets common goals that each member state writes into its own national law, so the obligations are consistent across the EU even though the enforcing statute differs by country. Its requirements apply from 28 June 2025.

Rather than describing a single website, the Act extends accessibility obligations to a defined list of consumer products and services placed on the EU market. The aim is to remove the patchwork of differing national rules and give people with disabilities dependable access to mainstream commerce, banking, reading, travel, and communication.

Who must comply

The EAA binds businesses that place covered products or services on the EU market — and it reaches them regardless of where the business is based. A company selling into the EU is in scope even if it has no physical presence there. Some micro-enterprise exemptions apply to services, easing the burden on the smallest service providers.

The covered consumer products and services include:

• E-commerce (online shops and the buying journey)
• Banking and payment services
• E-books and their reading software
• Ticketing and transport information services
• Electronic communications

Relationship to WCAG

The EAA itself states outcomes rather than line-by-line technical rules. In practice, conformance is demonstrated largely via EN 301 549, which in turn incorporates the WCAG success criteria. For a website, app, or digital service, meeting WCAG (through EN 301 549) is the established route to showing the Act's accessibility requirements are satisfied.

This means the technical work is the same work taught throughout the Academy: real labels, keyboard operability, sufficient contrast, and the rest of the WCAG A and AA set. WCAG is the shared technical core that EN 301 549 references and the EAA relies upon.

Key points

• The EAA is EU Directive 2019/882; its requirements apply from 28 June 2025.
• It extends accessibility from the public sector to mainstream consumer products and services.
• Covered areas include e-commerce, banking and payments, e-books, ticketing, transport information, and electronic communications.
• It applies to businesses selling into the EU wherever they are based, with some micro-enterprise exemptions for services.
• Conformance is shown largely through EN 301 549 / WCAG.

Related lessons

To do the technical work the EAA relies on, start with the harmonised standard and the Academy's learning track:

• EN 301 549 — the European harmonised standard that the EAA uses to demonstrate conformance.
• Learn — lessons on the WCAG techniques behind accessible products and services.