On 28 June 2025 the European Accessibility Act (EAA) came into force across the entire European Union. And if reading this you think "that's for government websites, not mine," stop for a second, because you're probably wrong.
Web accessibility has gone from being a nice-to-have to a legal obligation for a large part of digital commerce and services. Let's walk through what this means in practice, without scaremongering but without playing it down either.
What web accessibility is, briefly
Accessibility means anyone can use your website, including people with disabilities. Someone blind navigating with a screen reader. Someone with low vision who needs to enlarge text or increase contrast. Someone who can't use a mouse and navigates by keyboard alone. Someone with cognitive difficulties who benefits from plain language and a predictable structure.
This isn't a small minority: it's a very large share of the population once you count permanent, temporary, and age-related disabilities. An accessible site is, quite simply, one that doesn't leave anyone out.
Who the EAA applies to
Here's the surprise for many. The law isn't just about the public sector. It affects private companies offering certain digital products and services to consumers in the EU. In practice, squarely included are:
- Online stores and e-commerce. If you sell to consumers online, it applies to you.
- Banking and digital financial services.
- Transport services and their ticket-selling sites and apps.
- Telecoms, e-books, audiovisual platforms and several more services.
There are exemptions, mainly for micro-enterprises providing services (fewer than ten staff and below a certain turnover), but don't get comfortable: the exemption is narrower than it looks and doesn't cover every case. If you run an online store that generates revenue, the prudent move is to assume it applies to you and act accordingly.
What it requires exactly
The law doesn't invent odd criteria: it leans on an already well-known technical standard, the WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), at level AA. These are the international reference guidelines for accessibility. They're organised around four easy-to-remember principles, the famous POUR:
- Perceivable: content must be perceivable. Alt text on images, captions on videos, sufficient colour contrast.
- Operable: everything must be operable, including without a mouse. Full keyboard navigation, no traps where the focus gets stuck.
- Understandable: content and behaviour must be understandable. Clear language, forms with labels and helpful error messages.
- Robust: it must work with different technologies, including screen readers, now and in the future.
Concrete examples that almost always fail
So it doesn't sound abstract, these are the most common stumbles we find when auditing sites:
- Images with no alt text, so anyone using a screen reader has no idea what's there.
- Poor contrast: light grey text on a white background that's barely legible.
- Forms whose fields can't be completed by keyboard alone, or with no associated labels.
- Videos with no captions.
- Buttons that are only an icon, with no text a screen reader can announce.
- Content that relies on colour alone to convey meaning ("fields in red are required").
How to start without panicking
The good news: in most cases, complying doesn't mean rebuilding the site from scratch. It's an orderly process.
- Audit. Before touching anything, know where you stand. Automated tools catch some of the problems, but manual review (navigating by keyboard, testing with a screen reader) is what finds the important ones. Automation catches maybe half; the rest is human judgement.
- Prioritise. Start with what people use most and what carries the most legal and human impact: the checkout process, contact forms, main navigation.
- Fix. Many fixes are simple: adding alt text, improving contrast, labelling forms, ensuring keyboard operation. Others take more development work.
- Maintain. Accessibility isn't a box you tick once. Every new piece of content, every product, every landing page must respect the guidelines. It's a habit, not a project with an end date.
Why it's worth it beyond the fine
Yes, non-compliance can bring penalties, and that's a legitimate reason to get moving. But there are better ones. An accessible site reaches more people, and more people means more potential customers. On top of that, almost everything that makes a site accessible improves it for everyone: a clear structure, good contrast, and alt text also help SEO and general usability. Google and blind users, curiously, want very similar things.
Put another way: accessibility isn't a tax, it's an investment that forces you to do things better. The law has just given you the deadline.
If you're not sure whether your site complies with the EAA, Social Digital runs a clear accessibility audit: we tell you what's failing, what's urgent, and what can wait, with a realistic action plan. Book a diagnosis and clear your doubts before they get cleared for you.