In June 2025, new accessibility regulations in Europe begin to be enforced. And like GDPR, website owners in other nations may need to bring their sites into compliance.
The European Accessibility Act (EAA) is a directive (Directive 2019/882). This means that each member state has turned that directive into its own national laws that will affect both products and services. Those laws go into effect June 28, 2025.
All kinds of digital products and services are included under the EEA, including things like ticketing and check-in machines, phone services and e-readers. Also included are websites and eCommerce sites.
Are you excluded as a small business?
Microenterprises (small businesses) are excluded from EAA enforcement if they have less than 10 employees AND less than turnover (gross revenue) of €2M per year (approximately USD $2.1M).
If you meet both of these exclusion requirements, you do not need to currently meet accessibility standards for the EAA. But you should be aware that these sorts of exceptions for meeting requirements based on the size of the business (which are present in the accessibility legislation ofa number of countries) probably will be gradually reduced over time. You may be exempt at the moment, but you probably will need to make your website accessible in the future.
Do you have EU customers?
The important thing for non-European businesses to know is that the EAA can still apply to you! Like GDPR, these laws apply based on where the CUSTOMER lives not where the business is located. So if you have EU customers and you are not exempt by size of the business, you are required to comply with the EAA.
How will the EAA be enforced?
Since each member country of the European Union has created their own laws based on the directive, it’s not entirely clear yet how these new laws will be enforced. Potentially there could be a warning and fine system like GDPR. It’s too early to tell yet how these laws will be enforced, but it’s not too early to start preparing your site.
Need help on your
accessibility journey?
AccessiCart offers accessibility maintenance plans for your website. Remove barriers for people with disabilities, widen your audience and meet legal requirements with confidence!