EAA Compliance Services: Meet the European Accessibility Act
The EAA has been enforceable since June 28, 2025 - and it applies to any business serving EU consumers, wherever it is based. Check your site free, let AI fix the bulk, and have certified experts audit, remediate and document conformance to EN 301 549.
EAA compliance means meeting the European Accessibility Act - Directive (EU) 2019/882 - which requires key products and services sold to consumers in the EU, including e-commerce, banking, telecoms and digital media, to be accessible. It has been enforceable since June 28, 2025 and applies to covered businesses regardless of where they are headquartered. Conformance is measured against EN 301 549, which incorporates WCAG 2.1 Level AA for web content. EqualWeb gets you there with a hybrid model: a free instant check, AI remediation of 80+ common WCAG issues, and certified IAAP/CPWA experts who audit, fix and document your conformance through Managed Compliance.
What does the European Accessibility Act require?
The EAA does not cite WCAG directly. Instead, conformance runs through EN 301 549, the harmonized European ICT accessibility standard, which incorporates WCAG 2.1 Level AA in full for websites, mobile apps and non-web software - and adds requirements beyond WCAG for documentation, support services and telecommunications. A future EN 301 549 version is expected to adopt WCAG 2.2 AA; organizations already at WCAG 2.2 AA satisfy and exceed today's requirement.
In scope, the obligations are concrete.
- E-commerce websites and apps must provide accessible product information, purchasing flows, electronic payment and order confirmation
- Banking and financial services must make websites, mobile apps and electronic documents accessible
- Telecommunications, audiovisual media platforms and e-books must provide accessible interfaces and support captions, audio description and signing services
- Self-service terminals (ATMs, ticketing, check-in kiosks) must meet hardware and software accessibility requirements
- Economic operators must maintain technical documentation, issue a declaration of conformity, and cooperate with national market surveillance authorities on request
One honest caveat: microenterprises (fewer than 10 employees and no more than 2 million euro annual turnover) that provide services are exempt - though microenterprises manufacturing or distributing covered products still have obligations, and the exemption does not apply to the products themselves.
Official sources: Directive (EU) 2019/882 - EUR-Lex · European Commission - EAA · W3C WCAG 2.1
How does EqualWeb get you to EAA conformance?
The same hybrid model that powers our ADA work, aimed at EN 301 549: AI handles the volume, certified experts handle the judgment, and you end up with the documented evidence that national market surveillance authorities expect.
- Check - run the free Accessibility Checker on any URL and get an instant WCAG score from 0 to 100 with a prioritized issue list, no installation required
- Remediate with AI - install the Accessibility Widget with one line of code; it automatically fixes 80+ common WCAG issues that sit at the core of EN 301 549's web-content requirements, with a 7-day free trial
- Audit and document - Managed Compliance pairs you with certified IAAP/CPWA experts who manually audit your templates, flows and documents, remediate on the client side, and deliver a signed Accessibility Compliance Certificate, a VPAT/Accessibility Conformance Report covering EN 301 549, and an evidence pack you can present to market surveillance authorities
- Monitor - continuous scanning tracks a live 0-100 compliance score and flags regressions the moment new content ships, because the EAA requires ongoing accessibility, not a one-time audit; PDF Tools cover the EAA's reach into electronic documents
What happens if you do not comply with the EAA?
The EAA sets no single EU-wide fine; each Member State legislates penalties that must be "effective, proportionate, and dissuasive" - and several have set them high. Spain and Sweden can impose fines reaching 1,000,000 euros for serious infringements. Germany provides fines up to 100,000 euros for selling non-compliant products. France's aggregate penalties for systemic non-compliance can reach 250,000 euros, and some countries add daily fines - typically around 1,000 euros per day - until compliance is achieved. Ireland additionally provides criminal penalties, including imprisonment, for serious violations.
Money is not the only lever. Market surveillance authorities can order non-compliant products withdrawn from the market, prohibit services from being offered, mandate accessibility audits, and publicly disclose non-compliance. Consumers and disability organizations in many Member States can also bring complaints or civil proceedings. The dates that matter: new products and services have had to comply since June 28, 2025; existing services have a transitional period until June 28, 2030. A documented conformance program - audit, remediation, declaration of conformity, monitoring - is what stands between you and that machinery.
Why isn't a widget alone enough for EAA compliance?
EqualWeb's AI is built to do as much of the work as software can: the Accessibility Widget automatically fixes 80+ common WCAG issues, which in practice addresses roughly 80% of what a typical site gets wrong. That is real progress, deployed in minutes - and it is not full conformance.
EN 301 549 is assessed criterion by criterion, and several criteria require human judgment - alt text that actually describes meaning in context, checkout flows that make sense to a screen reader user, PDFs whose reading order matches their visual layout. The EAA also demands things no widget can produce: technical documentation, a declaration of conformity, and cooperation with market surveillance authorities. That is expert work, and it is exactly what Managed Compliance delivers.
Own development team? Start with an Accessibility Audit - we test and validate, you fix
Serving other markets? ADA compliance (United States) · AODA compliance (Canada) · Read the full EAA guide
EAA compliance - frequently asked questions
What is the European Accessibility Act and what does it require?
Who has to comply with the European Accessibility Act?
What is the EAA compliance deadline?
What are the penalties for not complying with the EAA?
Does the EAA require WCAG 2.1 AA or WCAG 2.2?
How does EqualWeb help with EAA compliance?
The EAA is already enforceable. Know where you stand.
Run a free instant scan, then let certified IAAP/CPWA experts take you to documented EN 301 549 conformance - with the evidence pack European authorities expect.