European Accessibility Act (EAA)
The EU law that since June 28, 2025 requires many consumer products and services, including e-commerce and banking apps, to be accessible.
The EAA is Directive (EU) 2019/882, applied through national laws in every member state. It covers, among others, online shops, banking, e-books, transport ticketing and consumer electronic communications, and it reaches companies outside the EU that sell into it. Microenterprises providing services are exempt. In practice teams test against WCAG 2.1 AA, the level referenced by the European standard EN 301 549.
Related terms
- WCAG: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines: the W3C standard of testable accessibility criteria, at levels A, AA and AAA.
- Accessibility (a11y): Building software that people with disabilities can use: with a keyboard, a screen reader, zoom or captions.
- GDPR: The EU regulation on personal data: lawful basis, minimal data, user rights and breach reporting, for anyone handling EU residents’ data.
