If you sell anything online to customers in Ireland, France, Germany or anywhere else in the EU, this one’s worth five minutes of your time.
The European Accessibility Act has applied since 28 June 2025. The UK isn’t in the EU, but that doesn’t mean UK businesses are off the hook. Most questions about it come down to three: does it apply to me, what does it cover, and what should I do first?
Here are the answers in plain English. We’ve stuck to what the directive actually says, and we’ve flagged the places where you’ll need to check the rules in the country you’re selling into.
What is the European Accessibility Act?
It’s an EU directive (Directive 2019/882, if you like the paperwork). Its job is to set one consistent set of accessibility requirements for key products and services across the EU, so disabled people can actually use them, and so businesses aren’t facing 27 different rulebooks.
Because it’s a directive, each EU country writes it into its own national law. That matters for you. You won’t meet “the EU Act” so much as the French, Irish or Dutch version of it, and each country enforces it and sets its own penalties.
Which products and services does it cover?
The Act focuses on the things people rely on every day. The list includes:
- computers and operating systems
- smartphones
- ATMs, payment terminals, and ticketing and check-in machines
- e-readers and e-books
- e-commerce (online shops and the checkout journey)
- consumer banking services
- telephone and messaging services
- access to TV and streaming services
- passenger transport by air, bus, rail and water, including websites, apps and e-tickets
For most UK businesses, e-commerce is the big one. If people in the EU can buy from your website, or book through it, this is the part to read closely.
Does it apply to UK businesses?
It can. What matters is where your products and services are offered, not where your company is registered. If you sell covered products or services to consumers in the EU, the requirements apply to that part of your business.
So a UK online shop shipping to Ireland should assume it’s relevant. A UK software company with EU customers should check. A business that only serves UK customers, with nothing EU-facing, is outside its scope.
One thing to watch: because each country writes its own version, the detail can differ. If the EU is a big market for you, check the national rules where you trade, and get proper legal advice for anything that carries real commercial risk.
Exemptions and transition periods
There is some breathing room, but it’s narrower than people think.
| Provision | Who or what it covers | How long it lasts |
|---|---|---|
| Microenterprise exemption | Businesses providing services with fewer than 10 staff and an annual turnover or balance sheet total of no more than €2 million | Ongoing, for the service requirements only |
| Products already in use | Services delivered using products that were lawfully in use before 28 June 2025 | Until 28 June 2030 |
| Existing service contracts | Contracts agreed before 28 June 2025 | Until they end, but no longer than five years |
| Self-service terminals | Terminals such as ATMs or ticket machines already in use | Until the end of their useful life, up to 20 years |
The microenterprise exemption is the one people get wrong. It only applies to services, not products, and you need to meet both tests: fewer than 10 staff and turnover or balance sheet of €2 million or less. A small team with a bigger turnover doesn’t qualify.
The other three are about time, not scope. They let existing contracts, terminals and products run on for a while. They don’t cover anything new you launch.
What standard should you aim for?
The benchmark most organisations use is EN 301 549, the European standard for accessible technology. For websites and apps, it points to WCAG 2.1 AA. Standards do get updated, so check the current version and how the countries you sell into refer to it.
This is the genuinely useful bit. It turns a legal duty into a list of things you can test: can someone use your site with just a keyboard? Is the text readable against the background? Do images have text alternatives? Are your form fields clearly labelled?
If your EU-facing site has never been tested against WCAG, you simply don’t know where you stand. That’s the first gap worth closing. Our web and accessibility team runs audits and builds accessible sites, and our piece on why website accessibility matters to everyone explains why we care so much about it.
How it sits alongside UK law
The Act doesn’t replace anything here. The Equality Act 2010 still applies to UK businesses, including the duty to make reasonable adjustments and not to discriminate against disabled people in the services you provide. None of that changed on 28 June 2025.
So if you sell into the EU, you can have two layers: the Equality Act at home, and the European Accessibility Act for your EU-facing products and services. The good news is that the same work usually covers both, because the goal is the same. Build things disabled people can actually use.
What to do next
If you think the Act applies to you, work through this in order:
- Map your EU exposure. List what you sell to consumers in the EU and check it against the list above.
- Check your size. Confirm your headcount and turnover so you know whether the microenterprise exemption really applies.
- Review your contracts. Note any service contracts agreed before 28 June 2025 and when they end.
- Test your website against WCAG 2.1 AA. Start with the journeys that matter most: search, product pages, checkout, log in and forms. Here’s what a website accessibility audit involves.
- Fix the blockers first. Keyboard traps, unlabelled form fields, low-contrast text and buttons with no name stop people finishing a task. Sort those before the cosmetic stuff.
- Build it into how you work. Add accessibility checks to design reviews, supplier questions and launches, so new work doesn’t bring the old problems back.
- Check the national rules. Find out how the countries you trade in have written the Act into law.
- Keep a record. Audit reports, fix logs and decisions, all written down. Evidence of steady progress beats a one-off claim.
This isn’t a one-off project. It’s a new baseline for how you design, build and buy digital products. If you’d like help working out where your site stands today, get in touch and we’ll talk it through.
Frequently asked questions
Does the European Accessibility Act apply to UK businesses?
It can. The UK is outside the EU, but the Act follows where your products and services are offered. If you sell covered products or services to consumers in EU countries, the requirements apply to that activity. A UK business serving only UK customers is outside its scope.
When did the European Accessibility Act start?
Its requirements have applied since 28 June 2025. Services using products already lawfully in use before then have until 28 June 2030. Service contracts agreed before 28 June 2025 can run until they end, for up to five years, and self-service terminals already in use can continue for up to 20 years.
Are small businesses exempt?
Some are, but it’s narrow. Businesses providing services with fewer than 10 staff and a turnover or balance sheet total of €2 million or less are exempt from the service requirements. You need to meet both tests, and the exemption doesn’t cover products.
What standard should my website meet?
Most organisations use EN 301 549, the European standard for accessible technology, which points to WCAG 2.1 AA for websites and apps. Testing your EU-facing site against WCAG 2.1 AA shows you where the gaps are.
Does it replace UK accessibility law?
No. The Equality Act 2010 still applies in the UK. The European Accessibility Act sits alongside it for anything you offer to customers in the EU.
