Creating accessible digital experiences is fast becoming a priority for organisations. With 1.3 billion individuals living with disabilities worldwide, ensuring that digital interaction is available to all should be common business sense. If I were to single out one factor as the key driver of progress, however, it would be the tightening regulatory landscape. With the European Accessibility Act (EAA) compliance deadline approaching on June 28th, many companies have accelerated their journey to digital accessibility.
The EAA makes digital accessibility a legal requirement for most businesses engaging with consumers in the European Union. The risks of non-compliance are substantial and include potential fines and even market bans. Nonetheless, not all organisations are ready. We are aware of a surprisingly large number of companies that have not even begun the process of taking action to ensure compliance.
If your organisation isn’t quite on track to hit the June deadline, don’t give up hope. The best way to mitigate risk is to simply get started. It’s important to remember that digital accessibility is an ongoing journey, not a one-time effort. Every small step you take along that journey can make a meaningful difference for your users and your business.
Understand your obligations under the EAA
The first step toward compliance is to review your product and service offerings and determine which fall within the EAA’s scope. Consider existing offerings that will remain available after June 2025, as well as future products or services that will enter the market after this date.
In addition, think about which countries’ rules you need to adhere to – after all, they may not all be identical. Each of the 27 EU Member States has implemented the EAA through its national legislation, which may include additional requirements or specific penalties. For example, in France, organisations will be required to publish annual accessibility action plans. Depending on the nature of your organisation, it may be wise to enlist the support of a legal expert who can help you navigate any complexity.
Identify and fix accessibility issues
Once you have a clear understanding of the requirements your organisation needs to meet, the next step is to bring your products and services into alignment with these requirements. This process begins with auditing your digital assets for conformance with EN 301 549, the harmonised European standard for information and communications technology (ICT) accessibility. Meeting this standard is the best way to demonstrate that your products and services are EAA-compliant.
A comprehensive audit involves manual testing by experienced accessibility professionals. Ideally, this team of testers should include people with disabilities. Testers will identify any issues that need to be fixed for your digital assets to be accessible. Multiple rounds of testing are typically required to ensure fixes are implemented correctly.
Establish processes to sustain progress
Fixing existing issues is one thing, but it’s also vital that your organisation is prepared to maintain long-term compliance. Digital experiences evolve, and each update may create new barriers. For this reason, the EAA requires organisations to establish practices that support sustainable progress.
This could start by instituting frameworks for testing code during development. By equipping developers with the tools to test code for accessibility during regular development cycles, companies can ensure that new features and updates do not introduce new problems for disabled users.
Live monitoring of user experiences of new software and websites should also be instituted. Setting up a user feedback collection mechanism is also encouraged, so that consumers can provide constructive criticism of new digital features at their own pace.
Preparing your teams for the EAA
Achieving and maintaining EAA compliance requires collaboration across multiple teams in your organisation. It’s important that everyone involved has the knowledge and skills they need to contribute. Training plays a vital role in ensuring that all team members are prepared to support your digital accessibility efforts.
Under the EAA, accessibility training will become mandatory for many companies. However, rather than thinking of this as an obligation, view it as an opportunity. Training empowers teams to address issues with greater efficiency and, in time, prevent new ones from emerging.
To be most effective, accessibility training should be tailored to the unique needs of specific roles. Don’t limit training opportunities to developers and other tech teams—make relevant courses available to anyone involved in creating digital experiences, including designers, content teams and marketers.
Publish an accessibility statement
Transparency is a key part of EAA compliance, and organisations will need to document how their products and services meet accessibility requirements. One way to achieve this is via a publicly available accessibility statement. This should cover a description of the product or service you offer and its accessibility features, as well as how it conforms to standards like EN 301 549. Ensure that contact information is available so that your audience can provide feedback and ask questions.
These four steps will help you make meaningful progress toward EAA compliance and lay the foundation for lasting progress. However, accessibility is more than a regulatory imperative – it’s a business advantage. Beyond mitigating legal risks, companies that make digital accessibility an ongoing priority realise many benefits and opportunities.
Consider the “curb cut” effect, which is the idea of accessibility features being used and appreciated by a larger group of people than the one they were originally designed for. In the 1970s, several students created a ramp to improve access for classmates using wheelchairs. They soon found that this ramp was being used by many other people, including parents pushing buggies and those with luggage.
The “curb cut” effect extends to digital environments, not just physical ones. When tech companies consistently build for accessibility, they create better experiences for everyone. This, in turn, can have a dramatic effect on areas including reputation, customer retention and revenue.
Russell Webb is the vice president for Europe at Level Access
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