The European Accessibility Act is enforceable — what website owners need to know

The EAA is now enforceable

As of June 28, 2025, the European Accessibility Act (EAA) — Directive (EU) 2019/882 — is fully enforceable across all 27 EU member states. This means that websites and mobile applications of businesses selling products or services to EU consumers must meet accessibility requirements based on WCAG 2.1 AA.

The EAA is not a recommendation. It’s a directive transposed into national law in each member state, with enforcement mechanisms and penalties defined at the country level.

Who is affected?

The EAA applies to economic operators providing products and services to consumers within the EU. For digital services, this includes:

E-commerce websites — any online shop selling to EU consumers
Banking and financial services — online banking, payment services
Telecommunications — service provider websites and apps
Transport — booking websites for air, bus, rail, and waterborne transport
E-books and e-readers

Micro-enterprises (fewer than 10 employees and turnover under €2 million) are exempt from some requirements, but the exemption is narrow and doesn’t apply to all service categories.

What does “accessible” mean in practice?

The EAA references the EN 301 549 European standard, which incorporates WCAG 2.1 Level AA. In practical terms, your website must:

Be perceivable — Provide text alternatives for images, captions for video, and sufficient color contrast.
Be operable — Ensure all functionality is keyboard-accessible, provide enough time for interactions, and avoid content that could cause seizures.
Be understandable — Use clear language, predictable navigation, and helpful error messages in forms.
Be robust — Work with assistive technologies like screen readers and voice control.

Enforcement has already begun

France moved first. Within ten days of the June 2025 enforcement date, French authorities initiated proceedings against four major retailers whose websites failed basic accessibility checks.

Other member states are following. The Netherlands, Germany, and Italy have designated enforcement bodies and begun publishing guidance. Penalties vary by country but can reach €100,000 per violation per country — and since each member state enforces independently, a pan-European business could face parallel proceedings in multiple jurisdictions.

The US parallel: 4,000+ ADA lawsuits per year

The EU is not alone in enforcement. In the United States, web accessibility litigation under the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) has been running at over 4,000 lawsuits per year since 2021. The average settlement is $25,000, but class actions can reach millions — Fashion Nova paid $5.15 million in 2025.

The US experience shows what happens when accessibility enforcement matures: it becomes a regular cost of doing business for non-compliant websites.

What to do now

Audit your website’s accessibility — Run an automated scan using WCAG 2.1 AA criteria. Elgarde’s free scan includes an axe-core accessibility audit that checks your entire page against WCAG success criteria.
Fix critical issues first — Missing alt text on images, insufficient color contrast, and non-keyboard-accessible navigation are the most common violations and the easiest to fix.
Update your development process — Accessibility should be part of every design review and QA cycle, not an afterthought. Add axe-core or similar tools to your CI pipeline.
Document your efforts — The EAA includes a “disproportionate burden” defense for certain requirements, but you must demonstrate that you’ve made reasonable efforts. Regular accessibility audits with timestamped reports are strong evidence of good faith.
Monitor continuously — A website can become inaccessible after any deploy. New content, updated components, or third-party widget changes can introduce violations. Continuous monitoring catches regressions before regulators or advocacy groups notice.

Check your website’s accessibility — free WCAG 2.1 AA audit, no registration required.