The short version
- Key point: The EAA is an EU accessibility law for specific products and services, not for everything a business does.
- Key point: Its goal is both social and economic: better access for people and fewer conflicting rules across EU countries.
- Key point: The directive was adopted in 2019, had to be turned into national law by 2022, and the main rules started applying from June 28, 2025.
- Key point: For digital teams, websites and apps matter most when they are part of an in-scope consumer service such as e-commerce, banking, transport, communications, e-books, or media access.
Overview
What The EAA Is
The European Accessibility Act is Directive (EU) 2019/882. It sets accessibility requirements for a defined group of products and services sold or offered in the EU.
In simple terms, it is meant to make important digital and technology-enabled experiences more usable for people who rely on keyboards, screen readers, captions, larger text, clearer layouts, or other accessibility support.
It is an EU directive, not a single directly applied rulebook. That means each EU country has to put it into its own national law, but the overall direction and core requirements come from the EU level.
Overview
What Its Purpose Is
The EAA has two main goals. First, it is meant to improve access for people with disabilities and older people by making common products and services more accessible.
Second, it is meant to reduce the problem of fragmented national rules. Before the EAA, businesses could face different accessibility requirements in different EU countries. The directive tries to create a more consistent baseline across the internal market.
So the law is about both inclusion and market harmonization: better access for users, and fewer conflicting rules for businesses operating across borders.
Overview
How It Came Into Being
The EAA did not appear overnight. The EU had been working on disability rights and equal access for years, including through its commitments under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The European Commission proposed a common accessibility law in 2015 because different national rules were making compliance harder and leaving accessibility uneven across the EU.
The directive was adopted in April 2019. EU countries then had to transpose it into national law by June 28, 2022, and the main accessibility rules started to apply from June 28, 2025.
Overview
What Its Scope Is
The EAA does not apply to every product, every service, or every website. It applies to specific categories named in the directive.
For digital teams, the most important point is that websites and apps usually matter when they are part of a covered service, such as e-commerce, consumer banking, certain transport services, e-books, electronic communications services, or access to audiovisual media services.
It also covers certain products and terminals, and there are important carve-outs and edge cases. For example, microenterprises providing services are generally exempt, and public-sector websites are mainly governed by a different EU law.
At a glance
- Covered service areas include e-commerce, consumer banking services, e-books and dedicated reading software, electronic communications services, access to audiovisual media services, and parts of passenger transport services such as websites, apps, ticketing, and travel information.
- Covered product areas include things like computers and operating systems for general-purpose consumer use, e-readers, certain consumer devices used for communications or media access, and self-service terminals such as ATMs, ticket machines, and payment terminals.
- A plain informational website is not automatically in scope just because it exists. The real question is whether the site or app is the channel through which a covered product or covered consumer-facing service is offered.
- The exact legal position can still depend on the business model, the country, whether consumers are involved, and whether another accessibility regime also applies.