This blog post provides information about accessibility laws and regulations, but is not legal advice. You should consult a lawyer for advice on specific legal issues or questions.
If you do business in the UK, chances are high that you know about the Equality Act 2010 and Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations 2018. While the Equality Act 2010 “legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society”, the accessibility regulations “say you must make your website or mobile app more accessible by making it ‘perceivable, operable, understandable and robust’”. That means that your digital products must meet the international WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility standard and that you must publish an accessibility statement that explains the accessibility of your service or mobile app.
Let’s bring in a third regulation: the European Accessibility Act which was established in 2019 but needs to get applied to products by June 28th 2025. Now you might say: Well, the United Kingdom left the European Union in 2020, so why bother? Here’s why:
Why companies in the UK are affected by the EAA
If your company is a B2B company that only operates in the UK or outside of Europe, nothing changes for you. But in case you do business with any company inside Europe, you have to align with the European Accessibility Act. Since both Directives, the Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations 2018 and the European Accessibility Act follow the same goal to improve accessibility for people with disabilities, it’s quite possible that you fulfil some requirements already. That would be the case if you belong to the public sector bodies in the UK (government departments, local authorities, public-facing services or websites under public sector control). But the EAA goes one step further because it covers more then websites and mobile applications. Next to Web Accessibility, digital Accessibility is a requirement as well. That means that requirements must be considered when developing products and services like ATMs, ticketing and check-in machines, banking services, e-books, computers and operating system in the same way as when developing websites and mobile applications.
If you want to learn more about the European Accessibility Act, we have a very detailed article about “Navigating the European Accessibility Act (EAA)” and covered this topic in our Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots podcast. Check it out here: The European Accessibility Act: Are You Ready for 2025?
Annex I – Accessibility Requirements
Annex I of the EAA holds accessibility requirements where “Digital Accessibility” is covered in the first section and probably the most important for you:
- Usage without vision
- Implement Text alternatives for e.g. images
- Organise content logically and semantically (using headings and labels)
- Ensure keyboard accessibility so the user does not need to use the mouse
- Multimedia content must be audio described
- Usage with limited vision
- Increasing text size and make it resizable
- Ensure a sufficient colour contrast
- Usage without perception of colour
- If some part of information is only understandable by colour, the colour must have an accessible alternative (e.g. in text form)
- Usage without hearing
- Multimedia content should include sign-language interpretation
- Usage with limited hearing
- Use captions for multimedia content
- Add an alternative for voice messaging, e.g. text messaging
- Usage without vocal capabilities
- Add the ability to use text communication when your product provides communication by voice
- Usage with limited manipulation of strength
- Products requiring users to touch a screen, make wrist movements or employ force must provide alternatives, such as voice control features
- Minimize photosensitive seizure triggers
- Avoid publishing content that flashes 3 times or more per second
- Allow users to stop any animation
- Usage with limited cognition, language or learning
- Information on products or services must be plain and without the use of technical jargon or complex terms
We have an accessibility checklist that will help you auditing your product and implementing accessible design.
Why non-compliance shouldn’t be an option
It’s without question that the more accessible we design our products, the easier we make it for people with disabilities to use them. That also means that being compliant or non-compliant has a direct impact on your brand reputation. And there’s another point why you want to align with the European Accessibility Act – you probably don’t want to pay the fines. Penalties for being non compliant with the laws related to EAA varies by country. In Germany, for example, they start at 10.000 Euro and can go up to 100.000 Euro (Article 37 BFSG ) and in France penalties range between 25.000 and 50.000 Euro (Ordonnance n° 2023-859).
We are here to support you along the way. Reach out to thoughtbot to make your product accessible and ready for the European Accessibility Act by the end of June.