European Accessibility Act: what your business must do before June 2025

The European Accessibility Act (Directive (EU) 2019/882) became enforceable on June 28, 2025. Every EU member state was required to transpose the directive into national law by that date, and the compliance obligation now applies to businesses placing digital products and services on the EU market.

This is not limited to EU-based companies. Any business that sells products or provides services to EU customers falls within scope. A US-based SaaS platform with European subscribers, a Canadian e-commerce store shipping to Germany, or an Australian banking app serving expats in France: all are affected.

The enforcement mechanism is clear: member states designate market surveillance authorities with the power to issue fines, require product modifications, or withdraw non-compliant products from the EU market.

What the EAA covers

The directive applies to both physical products and digital services. For digital teams, the relevant categories are:

The scope is deliberately broad. The European Commission estimated in its 2015 impact assessment that the directive affects approximately 3.8 million businesses across the EU.

The technical standard: EN 301 549

The EAA does not specify its own technical criteria. Instead, it references the harmonized European standard EN 301 549 v3.2.1 (2021), which maps directly to WCAG 2.1 Level AA for web content. When your digital service meets WCAG 2.1 AA, you satisfy the core web accessibility requirements of EN 301 549.

EN 301 549 goes beyond web content to cover:

For most software teams, the practical requirement is: achieve WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance across your web and mobile interfaces, and ensure non-web documents meet equivalent standards.

EAA vs ADA vs Section 508: comparison

| Factor | EAA (EU) | ADA (US) | Section 508 (US) | |--------|----------|----------|-------------------| | Legal basis | Directive (EU) 2019/882 | Americans with Disabilities Act (1990) | Rehabilitation Act, Section 508 | | Scope | Products and services sold in the EU | Places of public accommodation | Federal agencies and contractors | | Technical standard | EN 301 549 (maps to WCAG 2.1 AA) | No explicit standard (courts reference WCAG 2.1 AA) | WCAG 2.0 Level AA (ICT refresh, 2017) | | Enforcement | Market surveillance authorities per member state | Private lawsuits, DOJ enforcement | Federal procurement requirements, complaints to agencies | | Penalties | Member state-defined fines, product withdrawal | Injunctive relief, attorneys' fees, DOJ civil penalties up to $75,000 first violation | Contract penalties, procurement exclusion | | Who must comply | Any business serving EU customers | Private entities with 15+ employees, public entities | Federal agencies, vendors to federal government | | Effective date | June 28, 2025 | January 26, 1992 (web applicability via case law) | January 18, 2018 (ICT refresh) | | Microenterprise exemption | Yes (fewer than 10 employees and under EUR 2M turnover) | No | No |

Source: Directive (EU) 2019/882, 42 U.S.C. 12101 (ADA), 29 U.S.C. 794d (Section 508), EN 301 549 v3.2.1.

Penalties by member state

Each EU member state defines its own penalties. Some published examples:

| Country | Penalty framework | Maximum fine | |---------|-------------------|--------------| | Germany (BFSG) | Administrative fines for non-compliance | Up to EUR 100,000 | | France | Market surveillance with progressive sanctions | Product withdrawal + fines | | Netherlands | ACM enforcement, proportional fines | Revenue-based penalties | | Spain | General accessibility law penalties | EUR 30,001 to EUR 1,000,000 for serious violations | | Italy | AGCOM enforcement | Proportional to company turnover |

Source: National transposition laws as published by June 2025. Specific penalty amounts depend on the severity and duration of non-compliance.

The real cost goes beyond fines. Non-compliant products can be denied market access: authorities can prohibit sales until accessibility issues are resolved. For a SaaS company with European customers, that means service interruption.

Which businesses are exempt

The EAA includes a microenterprise exemption: businesses with fewer than 10 employees and annual turnover or balance sheet under EUR 2 million are exempt from service requirements (not product requirements).

There is also a disproportionate burden defense. If a business can demonstrate that compliance would require a fundamental change to the product or service, or would impose a disproportionate financial burden, the obligation may be reduced. However, this defense requires documented evidence and must be reassessed every five years.

Important: the microenterprise exemption does not apply to products, only to services. A small company manufacturing hardware must still meet product accessibility requirements.

EAA compliance checklist

Use this checklist to assess your readiness:

How Auditi supports EAA compliance

Auditi is built for the kind of structured, evidence-based compliance testing the EAA demands. Rather than running one-off scans, Auditi organizes testing around the user journeys that regulators and auditors actually evaluate.

Multi-standard testing: Auditi supports WCAG 2.1, WCAG 2.2, WCAG 3.0, FDA 21 CFR Part 11, and EU GMP Annex 11 simultaneously. For EAA compliance, teams select WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the baseline and optionally add WCAG 2.2 criteria for future-proofing.

Journey-based approach: Page-level scanners catch 30-40% of WCAG issues. The remaining 60-70% requires testing multi-step workflows: checkout processes, form submissions, navigation sequences. Auditi structures testing around these journeys, tracking compliance at each step.

Version tracking: The EAA requires ongoing compliance, not a one-time audit. Auditi tracks accessibility results across product versions, so teams can verify that new releases maintain conformance and catch regressions before they reach production.

VPAT generation: When procurement teams or market surveillance authorities request proof of conformance, Auditi generates VPAT 2.4 reports directly from test results. Each conformance statement maps to actual test data rather than self-assessed estimates.

Import from existing tools: If your team already runs axe, WAVE, Lighthouse, or pa11y scans, Auditi's API imports those results. You build on existing work rather than starting from scratch.

Working with accessibility testing specialists

For organizations facing complex compliance requirements, especially those operating across multiple EU member states with different national transposition details, working with a specialized testing partner reduces risk.

BetterQA is a software testing company with ISO 9001, ISO 13485, and ISO 27001 certifications. Their accessibility testing team has conducted over 500 assessments across healthcare, fintech, and government clients. BetterQA built Auditi specifically because existing tools did not adequately serve QA teams conducting structured compliance audits.

For companies ranking among top qa companies and best qa companies in accessibility compliance, the combination of expert testing services and platform-based tooling covers both the initial audit and ongoing maintenance obligations under the EAA.

Frequently asked questions

Does the European Accessibility Act apply to non-EU companies? Yes. The EAA applies to any business that places products on the EU market or provides services to EU consumers, regardless of where the business is headquartered. A US-based SaaS company with European customers must comply. The enforcement mechanism works through market surveillance: non-compliant products and services can be restricted or withdrawn from the EU market.

What is EN 301 549 and how does it relate to WCAG? EN 301 549 v3.2.1 (2021) is the harmonized European standard for ICT accessibility. For web content, it directly references WCAG 2.1 Level AA. For mobile applications, documents, and hardware, it adds requirements beyond WCAG. Meeting WCAG 2.1 AA satisfies the web content portion of EN 301 549, but full compliance requires addressing non-web content and software interfaces as well.

What are the penalties for EAA non-compliance? Penalties vary by member state. Germany's BFSG allows fines up to EUR 100,000. Spain's framework includes fines up to EUR 1,000,000 for serious violations. Beyond financial penalties, market surveillance authorities can order product withdrawal from the EU market, which means service interruption for digital businesses. Each member state was required to define "effective, proportionate, and dissuasive" penalties under Article 30 of the directive.

Are small businesses exempt from the EAA? Microenterprises (fewer than 10 employees and annual turnover under EUR 2 million) are exempt from the service requirements of the EAA. However, this exemption does not apply to product requirements. Small companies manufacturing or distributing physical products with digital interfaces must still comply with product accessibility obligations.

How is the EAA different from the Web Accessibility Directive (WAD)? The Web Accessibility Directive (Directive (EU) 2016/2102) applies only to public sector websites and mobile applications. The EAA extends accessibility obligations to the private sector, covering e-commerce, banking, transport, telecom, and e-books. The two directives are complementary: public sector organizations must comply with both, while private sector organizations are primarily affected by the EAA.

Can I use WCAG 2.2 instead of WCAG 2.1 for EAA compliance? Yes. WCAG 2.2 is a superset of WCAG 2.1: it includes all 2.1 criteria plus nine additional success criteria. Meeting WCAG 2.2 Level AA automatically satisfies WCAG 2.1 Level AA and therefore the web content requirements of EN 301 549. Auditi supports both standards, allowing teams to test against WCAG 2.1 for current compliance and WCAG 2.2 for future readiness.

Key dates and deadlines

| Date | Event | |------|-------| | June 17, 2019 | EAA directive published (Directive (EU) 2019/882) | | June 28, 2022 | Member states required to transpose into national law | | June 28, 2025 | Compliance obligation begins for products and services | | June 28, 2030 | Transition period ends for certain self-service terminals |

Products and services already on the market before June 28, 2025 that are not modified must comply by June 28, 2030 in some categories. New products and services entering the market after June 28, 2025 must comply immediately.

Next steps

If you have not started EAA compliance work, the deadline has passed, but enforcement is ramping up gradually. Start with the highest-risk areas: e-commerce flows, payment interfaces, and customer-facing services that directly fall within the directive's scope.

Run an automated scan to establish your baseline, then move to journey-based testing to catch the issues automation misses. Auditi offers a 14-day free trial with full access to multi-standard testing, journey creation, and VPAT generation.

For organizations needing expert guidance on EN 301 549 conformance or multi-country compliance strategies, BetterQA's accessibility testing team provides structured audit programs aligned with EAA requirements. Teams that also need to address security compliance (NIS2, GDPR, SOC 2) can combine Auditi with BetterQA's AI Security Toolkit to run accessibility and security scans in the same pipeline.

Built by BetterQA, a software testing company with ISO 9001, ISO 13485, and ISO 27001 certifications. Clutch-rated 4.9/5 from 63 verified reviews.