European Accessibility Act: What Software Teams Must Fix in the Product

The European Accessibility Act has applied since June 28, 2025 to digital services and products sold to EU consumers. That makes accessibility a release requirement.

Is your product in scope?

• It covers services such as e-commerce, consumer banking, e-books, passenger transport and electronic communications.
• Non-EU companies are in scope if they serve EU consumers.
• B2B-only products are generally out of scope, though public buyers may require conformance.
• Microenterprise services are exempt.

What the Act asks of a digital service

• Meet WCAG 2.1 AA, the benchmark through EN 301 549.
• Publish an accessibility statement.
• Make login, two-factor authentication and card forms accessible.

Where most products fail

• Low contrast text.
• Missing alternative text.
• Unlabeled form inputs.
• Empty links and buttons.
• Missing page language.

A 12-week plan

• Weeks 1–2: inventory.
• Weeks 3–4: automated scans and manual tests with screen readers.
• Weeks 5–9: fix shared components, then templates.
• Week 10: third-party components.
• Week 11: retest.
• Week 12: statement, pipeline checks and editor training.

Common mistakes

• Relying on overlays.
• Testing only the home page.
• Ignoring third-party components.
• Forgetting documents and emails.
• Treating it as a one-time project.