Is Your Website Ready for the EAA? Here’s What Every Business Needs to Know

Starting June 28th, 2025, the European Accessibility Act (EAA) will require businesses across the EU to ensure that their websites, and all digital content, are accessible to everyone. This new law will not only affect businesses within the EU but also affect any website that can be accessed from an EU member state. If your business conducts business online with customers in any country in the EU, this means you.

What is the European Accessibility Act?

The European Union adopted the EAA in June 2019, though it won’t become enforceable until June 28th, 2025. The law is intended to assure that important products and services—including websites, apps, and digital devices—are inclusive and easy for everyone to use, including people with disabilities. Its goal is to remove barriers so that all people can access information, shop online, use banking services, and more, no matter their abilities. This law helps create a society that is more fair by ensuring that businesses and organizations design their products and services to work for everyone, not just some people.

Although the EAA is not explicit about the level of accessibility that’s expected, compliance with the EAA can only be achieved by meeting the requirements of EN 301 549, which directly incorporates WCAG 2.1 Level A and AA criteria. So, for all practical purposes, this means your website needs to fully comply with WCAG 2.1 Level AA to be considered compliant within EU member states.

How Will the EAA Affect Your Business?

When a new compliance law like this goes into effect, it's human nature to think of the downsides of protecting our businesses from lawsuits and fines. The EAA certainly comes with its fair share of liabilities, such as fines of up to €200,000 in some countries, loss of market access, and damage to your business’s brand reputation. By some estimations, failing to comply with accessibility laws can cost the average business up to €1,230,000 ($1,400,000) in the event of a lawsuit or judgment. This estimate includes not only legal fees and fines but also the cost of remediation, loss of business, and decline in brand reputation, which could continue for years after the event.

There is, however, a huge upside to ensuring that your website and other digital products are compliant, including making your products and services available to the estimated 1.3 billion people with disabilities across the globe, who bring an estimated €430 billion ($490 billion) in spending power with them. It’s also estimated that 71% of all consumers prefer doing business with inclusive brands. An accessible website is also an SEO-friendly website, meaning your accessible website will more readily show up in search engine results. Research shows that by implementing accessibility features, businesses can increase audience reach by up to 20%.

How CI&T Can Help

CI&T employs over 400 UX, content, QA, and development specialists who are trained and experienced in helping our clients not only assess their level of compliance and identify specific issues, but also help to remediate any issues that we find and to design more compliant websites from the beginning.

Contact CI&T today for a comprehensive EAA compliance assessment to ensure your website is ready for the June 28th deadline.

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