The EAA (European Accessibility Act) is a mandatory law officially started on June 28, 2025.
Despite this, the vast majority of websites are still not adapted for people with disabilities, exposing their businesses to fines and higher costs for later adjustments.
The law targets specific categories, specifically:
- Tech & Software: Computers, smartphones, tablets, and their operating systems (Windows, iOS, Android).
- Self-Service Screens: ATMs, ticket machines, check-in kiosks (like at airports), and interactive info screens.
- Websites & Apps: All mobile apps, online stores (e-commerce), and websites of companies offering any services covered by this law.
- Travel & Transport: Air, bus, train, and boat travel info. Apps, digital tickets, and real-time travel updates must be accessible.
- Money & Banking: Everyday banking, plus online and mobile banking apps.
- E-books: Electronic books and the software you use to read them.
- Telecoms: Phone and internet services, including calling emergency services (112).
What does this mean for websites and online stores?
All products and services must be fully adapted and accessible to people with disabilities: blind and visually impaired people, deaf and hard of hearing people, people with motor skills difficulties, and people with reduced mobility (including the elderly).
Do small webshops fall under the EAA law?
Exemptions from the law are defined in 2 conditiones:
1.Micro-enterprises providing SERVICES. Exception applies only to service providers (for example, a small local online store) who meet 2 conditions (listed below).
If a micro-enterprise manufactures or imports hardware (products) covered by the EAA, it must still follow the rules).
2. Disproportionate burden: A company can be temporarily exempt from a specific rule if it officially proves that introducing accessibility would cause a “disproportionate financial or administrative burden” or would fundamentally change the nature of the product itself. This must be documented in detail and justified to the authorities.
What micro-enterprises are exempt from the law and what are the conditions?
- You must have fewer than 10 employees (looked at as full-time equivalent on an annual level). If you have 10 or more employees, you automatically lose micro-enterprise status and the law is mandatory for you, regardless of your turnover.
- Financial threshold. Within the framework of having fewer than 10 employees, your annual turnover OR your total annual balance sheet must not exceed 2 million euros. This means that if your turnover is, for example, 2.5 million euros, but your balance sheet is within 1.8 million euros (and vice versa), you still meet this condition.
In simpler terms: To be exempt from the EAA law, you must have fewer than 10 employees and meet at least one of the two financial criteria (turnover up to 2 million euros or balance sheet up to 2 million euros).
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