Last updated: September 2026 · Reading time: 13 min · By the Best Web Developer team
Quick answer
The European Accessibility Act requires many consumer-facing digital services in the EU, including e-commerce sites, banking services, e-books and passenger transport booking, to be accessible to people with disabilities from 28 June 2025. In practice, websites should meet WCAG 2.1 or 2.2 at level AA through the EN 301 549 standard, publish accessibility information, and fix barriers in navigation, forms, checkout and content.
Key takeaways
- The EAA is EU Directive 2019/882, implemented through national laws in each member state.
- It covers services offered to EU consumers, so non-EU businesses selling into Europe are in scope.
- Microenterprises providing services (under 10 staff and up to €2 million turnover or balance sheet) are exempt.
- The practical benchmark is WCAG AA via EN 301 549, plus accessibility information about your service.
- Saudi exporters with EU storefronts should budget roughly SAR 15,000–90,000 for audit and remediation.
What the European Accessibility Act is
The European Accessibility Act is an EU law that sets common accessibility requirements for key products and services, so that people with disabilities and older users can buy and use them on equal terms. For websites and apps, it turns accessibility from good practice into a legal obligation in many sectors.
Digital accessibility is the practice of designing and building websites, apps and documents so that people with visual, hearing, motor, speech or cognitive disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate and interact with them, including through assistive technologies such as screen readers, magnifiers and voice control.
The directive was adopted in 2019, member states had to transpose it into national law by 2022, and its requirements have applied since 28 June 2025. Enforcement and penalties are set nationally, so the details vary between countries such as Germany, France, the Netherlands and Spain.
Note: general information, not legal advice
This article summarises the European Accessibility Act in general terms. It is not legal advice. National implementing laws differ in scope details, deadlines for existing contracts, enforcement bodies and penalties. Confirm how the rules apply to your business with a lawyer in the EU countries where you sell.
Who the European Accessibility Act applies to
The EAA applies to businesses that place certain products on the EU market or provide certain services to EU consumers, wherever the business is based. Scope is defined by what you sell and to whom, not by where your servers or offices are.
Services in scope
- E-commerce services: websites and apps selling products or services to consumers at a distance.
- Consumer banking services: online banking, payment services and related apps.
- Passenger transport services: websites, apps and e-tickets for air, bus, rail and waterborne travel.
- Electronic communications and access to audiovisual media services.
- E-books and dedicated reading software.
Products in scope
Products include computers and operating systems, smartphones, e-readers, payment terminals, ATMs, ticketing and check-in machines, and certain TV equipment. Most website owners are affected through the services list, but hardware and kiosk makers have separate obligations.
Exemptions and transition periods
Microenterprises that provide services, meaning fewer than 10 employees and annual turnover or balance sheet of no more than €2 million, are exempt from the service requirements. Businesses can also claim that a requirement would be a disproportionate burden or a fundamental alteration, but they must document that assessment. Some transition periods apply to existing service contracts and self-service terminals; these differ in detail between member states.
Highlight: non-EU sellers are included
If a store in Riyadh, Dubai or New York sells to consumers in the EU through a site aimed at that market, with euro pricing, EU shipping or EU-language content, it should assume the EAA applies. The same logic has long applied to GDPR, and most Saudi exporters already know that pattern.
What websites must do under the European Accessibility Act
In practice, websites must be perceivable, operable, understandable and robust for disabled users, and must provide information on how the service meets accessibility requirements. The recognised technical route is the EN 301 549 standard, which references WCAG.
Meet WCAG at level AA
EN 301 549 currently maps web requirements to WCAG 2.1 level AA. Many teams now target WCAG 2.2 AA, which adds 9 new success criteria, including minimum target size, focus not obscured, accessible authentication and redundant entry. Building to 2.2 now avoids rework when the standard is updated.
The fixes that matter most
- Keyboard access: every link, button, menu, filter and checkout step must work without a mouse, with a visible focus indicator.
- Text alternatives: meaningful alt text for product and informational images; empty alt for decorative ones.
- Colour contrast: at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text and key interface elements.
- Forms: visible labels, clear error messages linked to fields, and no time limits without a way to extend them.
- Headings and landmarks: a logical heading order and proper page regions so screen reader users can jump around.
- Media: captions for video, transcripts for audio, and controls for anything that moves or plays automatically.
- Authentication: login and payment steps that do not rely only on memory puzzles or inaccessible CAPTCHAs.
- Resize and reflow: content usable at 200% zoom and 320 px width without horizontal scrolling.
Publish accessibility information
Service providers must explain how their service meets the accessibility requirements, typically in an accessibility statement linked from the footer. Include the standard you follow, known limitations and planned fixes, a contact route for accessibility problems, and the relevant national enforcement body where required.
Pro tip
Test your checkout with only the keyboard: Tab, Shift+Tab, Enter and Space. If you cannot choose a size, apply a coupon and pay without touching the mouse, a screen reader user almost certainly cannot either. When fixing contrast, our free colour converter gives exact hex and RGB values to feed into a contrast checker.
Our EAA compliance process
We run EAA projects in five stages over six to sixteen weeks, depending on site size. The aim is a site that meets WCAG AA and a process that keeps it there.
- Scope check (week 1): confirm which services and EU markets are in scope and whether any exemption applies.
- Audit (weeks 1–3): automated scans plus manual testing of 15–40 representative templates with keyboard, NVDA or JAWS, VoiceOver and zoom.
- Prioritised backlog (week 3): every issue mapped to a WCAG criterion, severity and effort, with checkout and forms first.
- Remediation (weeks 4–14): fix the design system and templates rather than individual pages, then retest.
- Statement and governance: publish the accessibility statement, train content editors and add accessibility checks to every release.
Why automated tools are not enough
Automated scanners catch only a portion of WCAG issues, typically missing things like unclear link text, illogical focus order, poor alt text and inaccessible custom widgets. Accessibility overlay widgets do not make a site compliant on their own and can interfere with assistive technology. Manual testing by trained people is essential. The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative publishes free evaluation guidance.
Key benefits of accessibility beyond compliance
Accessibility work reduces legal risk, but it also improves conversion, SEO and brand trust, because most fixes help every user, not only disabled users.
- Larger market: disabled and older customers are a significant share of EU consumers, and their families influence purchases too.
- Better conversion: clearer forms, labels and error messages reduce checkout abandonment for everyone.
- SEO gains: proper headings, alt text and semantic HTML help search engines and AI systems understand pages.
- Mobile usability: larger targets and better reflow improve the experience on small screens.
- Lower legal risk: documented compliance reduces exposure to complaints and enforcement.
- Tender readiness: accessibility is increasingly required in public and enterprise procurement worldwide.
“Accessibility is not a plug-in. It is how your buttons, forms and headings are built in the first place.”
— Best Web Developer strategy team
What the EAA means for businesses in Saudi Arabia
For companies in Saudi Arabia, the EAA matters whenever they sell to EU consumers, and it is also a useful benchmark for accessibility at home, where tenders and digital government standards increasingly expect it.
Saudi exporters with EU storefronts
Saudi brands in fashion, fragrance, dates, coffee and cosmetics that run EU-facing stores should treat EAA compliance like GDPR: part of the cost of entering the market. Audit the EU storefront, fix the checkout and product templates first, and publish an accessibility statement in the languages of the target markets.
Airlines, travel and fintech
Saudi airlines, travel agencies and fintech firms serving EU customers fall into sectors the EAA names directly. Booking flows, e-tickets and payment journeys need special attention, including Arabic and English versions where both are offered to EU users.
Accessibility at home
The Digital Government Authority sets standards for government digital services, and accessibility increasingly appears in Saudi public and enterprise tenders. Arabic RTL sites need extra care: screen readers must announce Arabic correctly, the page language must be set, and mirrored layouts must keep a logical focus order.
Illustrative case: a Saudi coffee brand prepares its EU store
Challenge: A Jeddah specialty coffee roaster with a Shopify store for Germany and the Netherlands had 212 WCAG 2.2 AA issues across 18 templates, including a checkout that could not be completed by keyboard.
What we did: We ran a three-week manual audit, fixed the theme’s shared components, replaced an inaccessible variant picker, rewrote alt text for 140 products and published an accessibility statement in English, German and Dutch. Total cost: about SAR 58,000.
Result: After 10 weeks, retesting found 7 minor issues remaining, all logged with fix dates. EU checkout completion rose from 41% to 47%, and mobile support tickets about “cannot select size” stopped entirely.
EAA vs ADA vs Web Accessibility Directive vs UK rules
Different accessibility laws cover different organisations, but they converge on the same technical benchmark: WCAG at level AA. One well-built site can satisfy most of them.
| Law | Who it covers | Technical benchmark | Enforcement |
|---|---|---|---|
| European Accessibility Act | Private-sector products and services for EU consumers | EN 301 549 (WCAG AA) | National market surveillance authorities |
| EU Web Accessibility Directive | Public-sector websites and apps | EN 301 549 (WCAG AA) | National monitoring bodies |
| Americans with Disabilities Act | Businesses open to the public in the US | WCAG AA commonly used in practice | Courts, Department of Justice |
| UK Equality Act and public sector regulations | Service providers; public bodies | WCAG AA | Courts, government monitoring |
Typical costs
In our projects, a manual WCAG audit costs about €2,000–€10,000 (roughly SAR 8,600–43,000) depending on template count. Remediation on a mid-size store usually adds SAR 10,000–60,000; complex custom platforms can cost more. Our UI/UX design service and web development team handle audit and fixes together.
Highlight: our accessibility release checklist
Keyboard-only run of the changed flow. Screen reader check in NVDA or VoiceOver. Contrast check on new colours. Alt text on new images. Labels and errors on new form fields. Zoom to 200% and 320 px width. Page language set correctly in Arabic and English. Accessibility statement updated if anything changed.
Accessibility trends to 2030, from EU enforcement to Vision 2030
EU enforcement is ramping up as national authorities build capacity, while Vision 2030’s quality of life and digital government goals are raising accessibility expectations in Saudi Arabia. Both point to accessibility as a standard requirement.
- Updated standards: EN 301 549 is expected to align more closely with WCAG 2.2, so building to 2.2 now is the safer choice.
- Complaint-driven enforcement: consumer groups and individuals will test high-profile sites first.
- Procurement pressure: enterprise buyers will ask suppliers for accessibility conformance reports.
- AI-assisted testing: tools will speed up audits, but manual review will remain necessary.
- Arabic accessibility: better screen reader support and RTL testing practice will matter as Saudi digital services grow.
Frequently Asked Questions about the EAA
When did the European Accessibility Act come into force?
The European Accessibility Act was adopted in 2019 as Directive (EU) 2019/882. Member states had to turn it into national law by 28 June 2022, and the accessibility requirements have applied to in-scope products and services since 28 June 2025. Some transition periods exist for existing service contracts and self-service terminals, and the details vary by country.
Does the European Accessibility Act apply to my website?
It applies if your website or app provides an in-scope service to consumers in the EU, such as e-commerce, consumer banking, passenger transport booking, e-books or electronic communications. It applies whether or not your business is based in the EU. Microenterprises providing services, with fewer than 10 employees and no more than €2 million turnover or balance sheet, are exempt.
Which WCAG version does the EAA require?
The EAA does not name a WCAG version directly. Conformity is usually shown through the harmonised standard EN 301 549, which currently maps web requirements to WCAG 2.1 level AA. Many organisations now target WCAG 2.2 level AA, which adds nine criteria, to stay ahead of expected updates and to meet newer procurement requirements.
What are the penalties for not complying with the EAA?
Penalties are set by each EU member state in its national implementing law, so they vary. They can include fines, orders to fix non-compliant services and, in some cases, restrictions on offering the service. National market surveillance authorities handle enforcement, often following consumer complaints. Check the specific law in each country where you sell for exact amounts.
Does the EAA apply to Saudi companies selling to Europe?
Yes, a Saudi company that provides an in-scope service, such as an online store, to consumers in the EU should assume the EAA applies, unless it qualifies as a microenterprise. Audit the EU-facing site against WCAG AA, fix checkout and product templates first and publish an accessibility statement. Budgets typically range from SAR 15,000 to SAR 90,000.
Can an accessibility overlay make my site EAA compliant?
No. Accessibility overlay widgets can adjust some visual settings, but they do not fix underlying problems such as missing labels, broken keyboard access or inaccessible custom components, and they can interfere with screen readers. Compliance requires fixing the site’s code, design and content, verified by manual testing with assistive technologies and documented in an accessibility statement.
Meeting the European Accessibility Act with confidence
The European Accessibility Act makes accessibility a legal requirement for many consumer-facing digital services in the EU, including those run from Saudi Arabia and elsewhere. Websites should meet WCAG AA through EN 301 549, fix barriers in navigation, forms and checkout, and publish clear accessibility information.
Start with a scope check and a manual audit, fix shared components before individual pages, and add accessibility checks to every release. The same work improves conversion, SEO and readiness for tenders at home and abroad.
Check your site against the EAA
We will run a scoped accessibility review of your EU-facing templates and send a prioritised fix list with SAR and euro estimates.
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