The European Accessibility Act (EAA) compliance deadline of June 28, 2025, is fast approaching. If your business operates within the EU, has more than 10 employees, and generates an annual turnover of €2 million or more, you must act quickly to meet the required standards in time, or face the consequences.
EAA non-compliance risks include substantial fines, legal challenges, and reputational damage. The good news is that all are avoidable. In this handy guide, we’ll outline everything you need to know to help you avoid costly setbacks.
What is the European Accessibility Act?
The EAA is an EU directive aimed at harmonising accessibility requirements across the continent. First introduced in 2019, member states were given until June 28, 2022, to transpose the directive into their national laws, and all businesses are required to comply by June 28, 2025.
The law applies to a broad range of products and services, including e-commerce websites, banking apps, booking platforms, ICT products, e-books and e-readers, self-service terminals, ticketing machines, check-in kiosks, PDFs, and online documents. Compliance criteria have been established using the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.1 Level AA.
What penalties can be imposed by the EAA?
Penalty structures have been designed not as punishment for non-compliance, but to encourage businesses to act quickly in implementing the required accessibility improvements. Here’s a list of the key penalties that might affect your business:
- One-time administrative fines ranging from €5,000 to €250,000+ per violation, depending on the severity of the issue.
- Ongoing daily fines up to €1,000 per day until the issue is resolved.
- The suspension of market access for non-compliant products and services until the issue is resolved.
At first, these penalties may seem steep. However, they effectively incentivise rapid action, deterring repeat offences and preventing organisations from avoiding accessibility improvements. For example, if an online banking app received a one-time €5,000 fine for failing to include alt text on a key image, it would likely be viewed as a minor financial setback. However, left unresolved, daily penalties could reach €30,000 in a single month, and continued non-compliance may also trigger a suspension of services for new customers, likely resulting in far greater revenue losses.
Can EAA fines and penalties vary by jurisdiction?
Yes. The EAA sets the overarching standards. However, specific enforcement mechanisms are determined at individual member state level, meaning penalties may vary significantly depending on where your organisation is based. Here’s a snapshot of examples from across the EU:
- Belgium: Fines range from €1,000 to €50,000. Continuous non-compliance may lead to business suspension.
- Italy: Fines typically range between €5,000 and €40,000, but can reach up to 5% of annual turnover.
- Ireland: Fines up to €60,000 and/or imprisonment of up to 18 months (for severe non-compliance).
- Germany: Fines of up to €100,000.
- Sweden: Fines of up to €200,000, plus the cost of mandated corrective action.
- France: Inaccessible public-facing platforms risk penalties of up to €250,000.
Non-financial risks of breaching European Accessibility Act standards
Beyond the immediate monetary outlay, failure to meet EAA standards can expose your organisation to additional risks with far-reaching financial and operational consequences:
- Reputational damage: Accessibility failures can attract negative media coverage, social media backlash, and poor customer reviews. Such negative publicity reduces customer confidence and trust, which can be difficult, and expensive, to regain.
- Operational disruptions: Mandatory product recalls or suspensions would likely result in service outages, rushed development, loss of customer access, and internal chaos, ultimately impacting revenue and creating strain across departments.
- Legal challenges: Individuals and advocacy groups may pursue non-compliance lawsuits against your organisation directly. The resulting settlements or court-ordered damages could climb far beyond the cost of initial fines.
- Increased scrutiny: Once flagged for non-compliance, EAA watchdogs may place your organisation under regular review, leading to additional investigations that make it harder to operate efficiently and focus on wider business goals.
- Prolonged market exclusion: Trading restrictions contingent on accessibility updates could result in halted product rollouts, lost contracts, and loss of access to lucrative regions.
The most common EAA compliance breaches and how to fix them
Left unaddressed, accessibility issues lead to user frustration, legal exposure, and a surprising amount of lost revenue. Ironically, some of the most common EAA violations are also the easiest to fix. Here’s a few examples of what to watch out for and how to put things right.
1. Missing alternative text (Alt Text)
The problem: Images without descriptive alt text exclude screen reader users, leading to poor UX and reduced engagement, especially among visually impaired customers.
The fix: Add meaningful alt text to all informative images and mark decorative images appropriately. For complex graphics, provide extended descriptions or data tables.
2. Insufficient Colour Contrast
The problem: Low contrast between text and background makes your content difficult to read, leading people with vision impairments, dyslexia, or age-related vision loss to abandon your website.
The fix: Use a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for body text and 3:1 for large text. Tools like our colour contrast checker can help.
3. Inaccessible Forms
The problem: Poorly structured forms with missing labels or confusing error messages prevent users from completing purchases, submitting inquiries, or signing up for your services.
The fix: Use semantic HTML for labels, include clear error feedback, and ensure logical tab order. Group related fields using <fieldset> and <legend>.
4. Lack of Keyboard Navigation
The problem: If your website isn’t keyboard-friendly, entire audience segments who can’t use a mouse or trackpad will be unable to navigate your content.
The fix: Ensure every interactive element is reachable and operable via the tab key. Add skip links, logical focus states, and test thoroughly using only a keyboard.
5. Missing Video Captions or Transcripts
The problem: Multimedia content without captions excludes users who are deaf or hard of hearing.
The fix: Provide accurate captions and transcripts for every piece of audio and video content, and ensure media players are fully accessible and easy to control.
6. Inaccessible Language
The problem: Overly complex language, unexplained jargon, and missing language tags confuse humans and screen readers alike.
The fix: Use plain language and short sentences, and add correct language attributes to identify both the page’s primary language and any multilingual sections.
7. Sensitive Content
The problem: Time limits, autoplaying media, and flashing content can alienate users with cognitive disabilities, epilepsy, or sensory sensitivities.
The fix: Avoid timeouts, or provide options to pause/extend them. Limit animations to three flashes per second or less, and always provide controls for autoplay features.
How to Prevent Financial Penalties Under the European Accessibility Act
EAA compliance may feel complex and overwhelming to begin with. However, it essentially boils down to four key steps. Here’s what you’ll need to do.
Run an EAA compliance audit
Conduct a comprehensive website audit to identify accessibility issues. Using a mix of automated, manual, and user testing techniques is typically the best strategy for benchmarking your website against WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards to find your starting point for making the necessary improvements.
Implement accessibility fixes in accordance with WCAG
Once you’ve identified problem areas, the next step is remediation. Focus on aligning your content and code with WCAG 2.1 Level AA criteria. Where possible, embed accessibility into your design and development workflows so that future updates are inclusive by default.
Set a schedule to monitor EAA compliance
Achieving accessibility isn’t a one-time task. You’ll need to set up a regular EAA testing schedule to catch any issues. This might include quarterly audits, ongoing automated scans, and periodic user feedback reviews. If you launch new features or content, be sure to test them for accessibility before they go live.
Continue learning and training your team on EAA best practices
Make accessibility a shared responsibility across departments so it becomes part of your company culture, not just a checklist item. Digital accessibility is an evolving field, so providing your team with regular training on EAA requirements, WCAG standards, and inclusive design best practices is essential.
Act now to ensure compliance by the June 2025 deadline
Failure to meet the required standards by June 28th leaves your organisation open to considerable risk. Recite Me offers a robust suite of on-demand accessibility tools to help you get compliant – and stay compliant.
Auditing your website against WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards using our accessibility checker is the first step. You can also download free EAA guides and training resources.
European Accessibility Act penalties FAQs
Here are a few of our most frequently asked questions to help you get to grips with the essential EAA requirements.
The EAA covers a wide range of products and services, including e-commerce websites, streaming platforms, financial services, public transportation, communication technologies, software/mobile applications, and digital interfaces for physical products (e.g., ATMs and kiosks).
Not for new products or services, no. However, there is a five-year transition period for existing products and services, and existing self-service terminals like ATMs, ticket machines, and info-points have 15 years to comply.
Microenterprises with fewer than 10 employees and an annual turnover below €2 million are not legally required to comply with the European Accessibility Act. However, all businesses are strongly encouraged to make their products and services accessible to people with disabilities.
Yes. The EAA applies to any business selling products or services to customers in the EU market. So, even if your organisation is headquartered outside of Europe, you must still comply with EAA regulations.
The European Accessibility Act uses WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the primary benchmark for ensuring digital content is suitably perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust for all users, including those with disabilities.