Are the EAA and national accessibility law the same thing?

No — the EAA is an EU directive; the national transposition law is its implementation in each member state. The content and requirements are very similar, but the national law is the legally binding act in your country, whereas the directive itself has no direct legal effect on businesses.

Does the EAA apply to websites and e-shops?

Yes. If you operate an online shop selling to consumers, it is an e-commerce service that falls under the EAA and the national transposition legislation.

Is the EAA different from public-sector website requirements?

Yes. Public-sector websites are governed by separate national legislation (typically implementing EU Directive 2016/2102), which has different requirements including a mandatory accessibility statement. E-shops and private companies are governed by the EAA transposition legislation.

European Accessibility Act: what it means for businesses

What is the European Accessibility Act

The European Accessibility Act (EAA) is EU Directive 2019/882 on the accessibility requirements for products and services. Its goal is to create a unified accessible digital market in the EU — so that people with disabilities can use products and digital services across Europe without barriers.

The EAA covers a wide range of products and services: banking services, electronic communications, e-commerce, e-books, transport services and more.

How the EAA is implemented in your country

Each EU member state was required to transpose the EAA into national law by 28 June 2025. The national legislation adopts all key requirements of the directive and supplements them with national enforcement and supervisory mechanisms.

Who is affected

The EAA and the national transposition legislation apply to:

Manufacturers of products (hardware, terminals, e-readers…)
Importers and distributors of these products
Providers of e-commerce services — i.e. online shops selling to consumers (B2C)
Providers of other regulated services (banks, telecommunications…)

Micro-enterprises are exempt (fewer than 10 persons AND turnover/balance sheet total ≤ EUR 2 million — both conditions must apply simultaneously).

How the EAA relates to WCAG

The EAA does not set technical requirements directly. It references the harmonised standard EN 301 549, which adopts WCAG 2.1 AA as the technical basis for digital accessibility. The chain is therefore: national transposition legislation → EN 301 549 → WCAG 2.1 AA.

WCAG 2.1 AA is not legally binding in itself — what is binding is the national law that presupposes the EN 301 549 standard. Achieving WCAG 2.1 AA compliance is, however, the most practical way to satisfy the requirements of the law.

What to do

To assess the current state of your e-shop, we recommend starting with an automated check. This will identify approximately 30–50% of WCAG 2.1 AA rules — the rest requires manual review.

Automated accessibility checking (such as this on Inkluzo) covers approximately 30–50% of WCAG 2.1 AA rules. It checks machine-detectable errors — alternative texts, contrast, heading and form structure, ARIA attributes. The remaining 50–70% of criteria require manual assessment: text comprehensibility, logical focus order, meaningfulness of alternative texts, real keyboard control.

Frequently asked questions

Are the EAA and national accessibility law the same thing?: No — the EAA is an EU directive; the national transposition law is its implementation in each member state. The content and requirements are very similar, but the national law is the legally binding act in your country, whereas the directive itself has no direct legal effect on businesses.
Does the EAA apply to websites and e-shops?: Yes. If you operate an online shop selling to consumers, it is an e-commerce service that falls under the EAA and the national transposition legislation.
Is the EAA different from public-sector website requirements?: Yes. Public-sector websites are governed by separate national legislation (typically implementing EU Directive 2016/2102), which has different requirements including a mandatory accessibility statement. E-shops and private companies are governed by the EAA transposition legislation.

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