The European Accessibility Act 2025: how to comply with technical aspects

European Accessibility Act 2025: How to Comply with Technical Aspects

Quick Summary: The European Accessibility Act (EAA) requires EU businesses to make their digital products and services accessible to all. Deadline: June 28, 2025 for new products/services and June 28, 2030 for existing ones. Key requirements include compliance with EN 301 549 and WCAG 2.1 AA standards, with penalties of up to €250,000 for non-compliance.

What You Need to Do:

• Audit: Analyze your websites, apps, and digital documents.
• Correction: Fix accessibility issues (contrast, keyboard navigation, alt tags, etc.).
• Training: Train your teams on accessibility standards.
• Regular Testing: Automate and perform manual tests to ensure compliance.

Key Points:

• Affected sectors include banking, transportation, e-commerce, and electronic communications.
• Microenterprises (less than 10 employees and revenue < €2M) are exempt.
• Tools like WAVE, NVDA, and Pa11y can help you check your compliance.

Why Act Now? Compliance with the EAA improves user experience, avoids costly fines, and opens access to a market of 135 million disabled people in the EU.

Next Step: Conduct a comprehensive audit and plan your corrections before June 2025 to mitigate risks.

What Is the European Accessibility Act (EAA)? Countdown to EAA 2025

Technical Requirements

To align your digital solutions with legal standards, here are the essential technical criteria. The EAA requires compliance with the EN 301 549 standard, which incorporates WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines ^[3].

WCAG 2.1 Guidelines

WCAG 2.1 guidelines define the necessary basics to achieve EAA compliance at level AA:

Category	Main Requirements
Non-text Content	Text alternatives for images and media
Time-based Media	Captions, transcripts, audio descriptions
Navigation	Keyboard navigation without time constraints
Presentation	Contrast 4.5:1 and resizable text
Compatibility	Code compliant with standards for assistive technologies

These requirements are organized around four key principles, described below.

Explained Principles

Perceivable: Ensure content is visually and audibly accessible to all:

• Add alternative texts for images.
• Provide subtitles and transcripts for videos.
• Structure content logically.
• Use appropriate visual contrasts.

Operable: Make the interface usable for all:

• Offer full keyboard navigation.
• Allow flexible time adjustments.
• Avoid content that may trigger epileptic seizures.
• Provide intuitive and consistent navigation.

Understandable: Ensure easy understanding of content and interfaces:

• Use clear and simple language.
• Ensure predictable functionalities.
• Integrate assistance for forms.
• Correctly identify the language used.

Robust: Ensure your content is compatible with current and future assistive tools.

Differences Between EAA and WCAG

Aspect	EAA	WCAG
Nature	Legal Directive	Technical Guidelines
Scope	European Union	Global
Application	Mandatory	Optional
Domains	Physical and Digital	Digital Only
Deadline	June 28, 2025	None

Companies must meet WCAG 2.1 AA criteria and implement a strategy including training and regular testing with real users ^[1]. These distinctions directly influence implementation approaches, which we will address in the next section.

Let's now move on to concrete steps for auditing and testing to ensure this compliance.

Implementation Guide

Conduct a comprehensive audit to meet the technical requirements of the EAA.

Website Accessibility Audit Steps

An effective audit for EAA compliance combines automated and manual tests. Here are the key steps to follow:

Phase	Key Actions	Recommended Tools
Automated Analysis	HTML markup verification, color contrast, alt text alternatives	WAVE, SortSite, IBM Equal Access
Manual Testing	Keyboard navigation, screen reader consistency, clear error messages	NVDA, JAWS, VoiceOver
Technical Validation	Compatibility with assistive technologies, semantic structure	Tenon, Pa11y, aDesigner

These tools facilitate control and ensure thorough verification.

Testing Tools Guide

Here are some tools to assess compliance with WCAG 2.1 standards:

Main Automated Tools:

• BrowserStack: Allows testing on real devices with live debugging.
• EqualWeb: Offers AI-assisted correction and continuous monitoring.
• SortSite: Performs a comprehensive analysis covering accessibility, usability, and SEO.

Manual Testing Tools:

• Accessibility Insights: Provides thorough checks and in-depth testing.
• Firefox Accessibility Inspector: Integrates inspection and debugging tools.
• Dyno Mapper: Helps manage content and test user experience.

"Combining both automated and manual accessibility testing methods is the most comprehensive, and frankly sensible, approach to auditing your website for EAA compliance." - Recite Me ^[4]

Common Issues and Solutions

Here are the most common issues and technical solutions to optimize your audits.

Data shows that 97% of homepages do not comply with WCAG 2 guidelines ^[6]. Among the main problems:

Issue	Technical Solution
Insufficient Contrast (86.4% of sites [5])	Use a minimum ratio of 4.5:1 for text.
Images Without Alt Text (30% of banners [5])	Add descriptive alt tags for each image.
Inaccessible Keyboard Navigation	Include clear and visible focus indicators.
Incorrect Heading Structure	Follow a logical hierarchy with H1-H6 tags.
Improperly Labeled Forms	Associate each field with a <label> tag.

To ensure sustainable accessibility, integrate these checks into your development cycle. For example, use tools like Pa11y in your CI/CD pipelines to automatically detect issues before production.

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Content Type Requirements

As part of EAA compliance, it's essential to understand specific expectations related to different content types.

Web and Mobile Standards

Digital platforms must meet the criteria of the EN 301 549 standard, which is based on WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines, to ensure optimal accessibility.

Element	Technical Requirement	User Impact
Navigation	Compatibility with various devices	Easy access on all platforms
Interface	Support for assistive technologies	Accessible use for all
Responsive Design	Adaptation to different devices	Consistent experience across all devices
Performance	Optimization of functionalities	Smooth and intuitive navigation

Document Accessibility

Accessibility extends beyond digital interfaces. Digital documents published after June 28, 2025, must meet specific criteria: clear semantic structure, intuitive navigation, compatibility with screen readers, and support for multiple languages ^[7].

For example, a North American financial institution collaborated with Allyant to analyze and adapt its document library. This initiative prioritized essential documents and implemented a progressive compliance process, meeting EAA requirements ^[7].

Audio and Video Standards

For multimedia content, certain specifications are essential:

Content Type	Requirement	Technical Specification
Audio	Background noise reduction	20 dB below main sound [11]
Video	Accessible player control	Keyboard and mouse navigation [10]
Subtitles	Precise synchronization	Perfect alignment with audio
Audio Description	Adapted narration	No overlapping sound

Media players must include accessible controls, well-synchronized subtitles, and clear audio descriptions. These elements should be considered early in the project to reduce costs and maximize efficiency ^[9].

Transcriptions should include details such as speaker names, dialogue content, relevant contextual information, and essential visual elements ^[10].

Long-Term Compliance

Drafting Accessibility Statements

An accessibility statement confirms your compliance with the EAA. It details your technical and functional commitments following the EU standard model. Here are the key elements it should include:

Mandatory Element	Description
Feedback Mechanism	Communication channels to report issues
Technical Status	Current level of compliance
Documentation	Methodology and specifications used for evaluation
Contact Information	Contact details for feedback collection

For these commitments to be sustainable, regular staff training is crucial.

Staff Training

Ongoing training is essential to maintain accessibility standards.

"Accessibility is everyone's responsibility, and creating accessible products and services benefits everyone - your customers, your employees, and your bottom line." - Matthew Luken (Deque) ^[8]

Training should cover six main areas:

• General awareness of accessibility
• Technical basics
• Role-specific training
• Use of dedicated tools
• Approaches to testing and compliance