When Tim Berners-Lee created the internet, he didn’t think it would turn out like this.
He envisioned it as a force for good – one that would level the playing field and bring equality to all. But 36 years later, that vision is still far from reality.
The internet remains inaccessible to many. Only now, with legislation like the European Accessibility Act (EAA) coming into force in 2025, are we seeing a real push to change that.
So, how can you be part of this change?
By the end of this post, you’ll have discovered everything you need to know about accessibility – what it is, some of the legal requirements, and how it benefits both people and businesses alike.
Making your website or mobile app accessible means ensuring that all users, including those with disabilities, can navigate, understand, and interact with your digital content.
Accessibility isn’t just about compliance. It’s about creating a better experience for everyone, strengthening your brand, and ensuring you reach the widest possible audience.
So, what does accessibility look like in practice? It spans multiple areas:
Accessibility ensures that people with disabilities – including those with visual, auditory, cognitive, and motor impairments – can fully participate in the digital world.
Technology plays an integral role in everyday life. Without accessibility, barriers prevent people from accessing education, employment, shopping, and even essential services.
It ends up excluding a large number of people in our society.
Besides the ethical considerations, accessibility is also important for business.
Websites and apps designed with accessibility in mind often see increased engagement and conversion rates – as they offer a smoother, more intuitive experience for everyone.
Accessibility features such as voice navigation, legible fonts, and high-contrast designs also improve usability for individuals without disabilities, making digital products more user-friendly overall.
What is it about most websites and digital platforms that make them inaccessible?
Many websites remain inaccessible due to common issues like:
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and founded by Tim Berners-Lee, set the international standard for digital accessibility.
Adhering to WCAG helps businesses and organizations create a more inclusive digital space while ensuring compliance with various accessibility laws worldwide. Following these guidelines not only reduces legal risks but also improves user engagement, SEO performance, and overall user satisfaction.
WCAG is continuously updated to reflect technological advancements and the changing needs of users with disabilities. Staying informed on the latest updates ensures that your website remains accessible and compliant with evolving standards.
The WCAG are built on four key principles, commonly referred to as POUR. This stands for Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust.
Ensuring your website or app and its content align with these key principles means you’re on the right track when it comes to accessibility.
Content must be presented in ways that users can perceive. This means providing text alternatives for images, ensuring there’s enough color contrast so text is easy to read, and offering captions for multimedia content.
Users must be able to navigate and interact with the content using different input methods, including keyboards and screen readers. Important things to keep in mind include avoiding flashing elements that could trigger seizures and ensuring buttons and links are accessible.
Information and navigation must be clear so people don’t get confused. This involves having a structure that makes information easy to find, legible fonts, and clear instructions for interactive elements.
Content must also be compatible with current assistive technology and future developments. Using standardized coding practices and adhering to accessibility guidelines ensures that websites, apps, and their content will be accessible long into the future.
The great news is that improving accessibility doesn’t have to be complicated. Here’s where you can start:
What does accessibility look like on a website? Below you’ll find some examples. Although it isn’t an exhaustive list, ensuring your website has these features will help make it more accessible:
Using inclusive design principles from the very beginning when creating your website is the easiest way to ensure accessibility. Making changes after the fact can involve some complex alterations to your code – but the right tools can make it easier.
You can improve your website’s accessibility using our Accessibility Solution, which adapts your site to a user’s accessibility needs.
Whether a person requires screen reader compatibility, keyboard navigation, content adjustments, color enhancements, or orientation tools, you’ll get closer to providing them with what they need on your site through the Accessibility Solution.
It uses AI to scan and fix any code on your site that isn’t accessible. And you can easily set it up in just a couple of minutes.
Countries worldwide are putting stringent laws and regulations in place to ensure greater accessibility.
After all, with many essential services now digital, it’s more important than ever for governments to ensure everyone can access the services they need.
Here are some of the laws and regulations around the world that mandate digital accessibility:
The ADA requires businesses operating in the United States to provide equal access to their digital services. While the law doesn’t explicitly outline web accessibility requirements, courts often interpret it to include websites and mobile applications.
ADA compliance usually follows WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards, ensuring usability for individuals with disabilities.
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act mandates that U.S. federal agencies and organizations receiving government funding must ensure their digital content is accessible.
It explicitly references WCAG 2.0 Level AA as the required standard. Government contractors and vendors must also meet these requirements when providing digital services to federal entities.
The EAA establishes accessibility requirements across the European Union for digital products and services, including websites, apps, and e-commerce platforms. By June 2025, businesses providing digital services in the EU – regardless of where they’re based – must comply with these requirements to avoid penalties and ensure accessibility for all users.
While the requirements draw from the WCAG, they differ slightly. This means it’s all the more important to make the EAA’s requirements the standard to adhere to in order to ensure compliance.
You need to comply with the European Accessibility Act (EAA) if you meet BOTH of these conditions:
June 28, 2025. The EAA makes an important distinction:
If your website is offering products and services covered by the EAA, it falls under the EAA. However, certain website content may be exempt, provided that it is not updated after the EAA’s entry into force. This includes:
Yes, the EAA provides for transitional periods for services:
The EAA leaves it to individual EU Member States to establish penalties. Each country will determine its own enforcement mechanisms and penalties under national laws, which may differ between Member States. The EAA only requires that these penalties be “effective, proportionate, and dissuasive.”
Purely informational websites that don’t offer any products or services covered by the EAA to consumers typically fall outside the directive’s scope. However, if your website includes contact forms for leads or calls-to-action for services that target consumers, it likely falls under the EAA’s scope.
The EAA covers specific products and services including:
For products:
For services:
The EAA focuses on products or services offered to consumers. The EAA defines consumers as “any natural person who purchases the relevant product or is a recipient of the relevant service for purposes which are outside his trade, business, craft or profession.” B2B websites, intranets, and learning management systems that are not intended for consumers generally fall outside the scope of the EAA.
B2B sites typically do not fall under the EAA’s scope as the act specifically targets consumer-facing services. However, if these B2B sites offer services directly to consumers, those consumer-facing portions would need to comply with accessibility requirements.
Yes, payment gateways integrated into consumer-facing websites must be accessible. Under the EAA, the entire purchasing process, including form fields, payment gateways, and confirmation messages, must be fully accessible.
The EAA explicitly exempts third-party content that you didn’t fund, develop, or control. However, for content that you do control (including PDFs, videos, and embedded software), the compliance requirements depend on timing:
The EAA focuses on products and services offered to “consumers,” defined as natural persons using products or services for purposes outside their trade, business, craft, or profession. If your website offers goods or services to consumers, including through contact forms or CTAs, it generally falls under the EAA’s scope.
The EAA does not provide different rules specifically for non-profits. If a non-profit organization meets the criteria for compliance (over 10 employees or exceeding financial thresholds) and provides services to consumers, it should typically comply with the EAA requirements.
The EAA itself does not address specific funding mechanisms. However, it does note that if economic operators receive funding from outside sources specifically for improving accessibility, they cannot claim exemption under the “disproportionate burden” provision. Check with your local business support organizations or EU programs for potential funding opportunities.
While the EAA does not explicitly reference the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), the requirements are closely aligned with these standards. The EU is developing specific accessibility guidelines for private entities, building on existing standards like EN 301 549 (already established for public bodies).
According to Annex I, Section III of the EAA, general accessibility requirements include making information available through multiple sensory channels, presenting content in understandable formats, providing text alternatives to non-textual content, and ensuring websites are perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust.
Generally, following WCAG 2.1 guidelines is considered a good approach toward EAA compliance, though the EAA includes additional requirements beyond WCAG.
Yes, exemptions include:
The EAA includes a “disproportionate burden” exemption. To qualify, you must conduct and document a formal assessment demonstrating why the cost of compliance would be excessive relative to the potential benefits for persons with disabilities. However, if you receive funding from other sources specifically for improving accessibility, you cannot claim this exemption.
The EAA does not explicitly provide for such a declaration. However, service providers are required to provide information on how their service meets accessibility requirements, commonly referred to as an accessibility statement. According to Annex V of the EAA, this should include a general description of the service in accessible formats, explanations necessary to understand its operation, and a description of how the relevant accessibility requirements are met.
If your service is not compliant, you are obligated to take corrective measures and inform the competent national authorities about the non-compliance and the corrective measures taken.
Yes, the EAA requires service providers to include information about how their service meets accessibility requirements. This typically takes the form of an accessibility statement that includes a description of the service, how it operates, and how it meets relevant accessibility requirements.
With our solution, you can see accessibility improvements in real-time. Our AI continuously scans your site against accessibility guidelines and applies necessary adjustments. Additionally, we recommend periodic manual testing with different assistive technologies.
Many countries have enacted their own accessibility laws, often aligning with WCAG guidelines:
Besides legal compliance and ethics, accessibility is good for business. By making your website, app, and content accessible, you could reap rewards such as:
Now you know you need to make your website and content accessible. But how do you find out how accessible your website is? Where do you even start?
The great news is that there are several tools that can help your business evaluate and enhance accessibility:
The Internet was meant to be for everyone. Yet, millions of people still face barriers every day.
The good news is that fixing accessibility issues is easier than you think. And by making your website or app more inclusive, you’re not just avoiding legal risks – you’re expanding your audience, improving user experience, and doing what’s right.
With accessibility laws tightening and consumer expectations rising, now is the time to act.
You can easily make a start today with our Accessibility Solution – it only takes a couple of clicks. It’ll only benefit your users and your business.
