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Accessibility Act check: does it apply to your website?
Seven questions for the legal assessment, a real website scan for the technical status, and at the end you know where you stand and what to do. No questionnaire theater, no scaremongering.
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What does your company offer?
The Accessibility Act explicitly lists certain service categories. Your selection is the most important indicator.
The check provides a non-binding initial assessment based on your answers and an automated audit, not legal advice. When in doubt, please have the assessment reviewed by a lawyer.
What is the European Accessibility Act? Explained in two minutes
The EAA (EU Directive 2019/882) makes digital accessibility mandatory for the private sector. It has applied across the EU since June 28, 2025.
The European Accessibility Act is transposed into the national law of every EU member state, for example as the BFSG in Germany or Ley 11/2023 in Spain. The idea: products and services consumers use in daily life must be as accessible to people with disabilities as to everyone else. For websites that means: if you offer consumers services online or let them conclude contracts, your site has to be accessible, technically defined by EN 301 549, which includes WCAG 2.1 level AA.
What's new is the addressee: for years, accessibility was a topic for public authorities. The EAA brings in the private sector, from online shops to banks to booking platforms. And it comes with enforcement: market surveillance authorities can demand evidence and order measures, fines reach six figures depending on the country (up to €100,000 in Germany, up to 5% of annual turnover in Italy), and competitors and associations can take action against violations.
The good news: if you know where you stand, you can act with a plan instead of panic. That's exactly what this check is built for. It combines the applicability question ("does the law apply to me?") with a real technical audit of your website ("how far am I from compliant?").
The Accessibility Act hits these offerings first
The directive explicitly lists service categories. The most important ones for website owners:
Online shops & e-commerce
The largest affected area: anyone selling products or services to consumers online is engaged in e-commerce within the meaning of the EAA, regardless of the industry.
Banks & payment services
Account opening, online banking, credit applications, payment services: consumer banking services are among the explicitly listed categories.
Telecommunications & messengers
Telephone, internet and messenger services fall under the law, including the websites and apps consumers use to sign and manage contracts.
E-books & digital media
E-books and the software to use them are their own category. Publishers, shops and platforms distributing them to consumers are affected.
Tickets, travel & passenger transport
Booking platforms, ticket shops and digital services in passenger transport, from the railway app to the event ticket.
Borderline cases & other services
Not being explicitly listed doesn't automatically mean exempt: as soon as consumers can conclude contracts online, e-commerce may apply. The check clarifies exactly these borderline cases.
Exemptions and deadlines, without wishful thinking
Two provisions are regularly overestimated. Here's how they're actually framed:
The microenterprise exemption
Exempt are services provided by companies with fewer than 10 employees and at most €2M annual turnover. Both conditions must be met at the same time. The exemption does not apply to products. If you're just above a threshold or growing, don't build on it.
Transition periods until 2030 at the latest
For certain existing services and contracts there are narrowly framed transition rules, but no general amnesty. New or substantially changed offerings have had to be accessible since June 28, 2025. Whether a transition period applies belongs in a lawyer's hands.
What the Accessibility Act concretely demands of your website
Four obligations that belong together. Accessibility is more than a compliant homepage.
Accessible website & app
Perceivable, operable, understandable, robust. Technically specified by EN 301 549, which includes WCAG 2.1 level AA. That covers contrast, alternative text, keyboard operation, forms and structure.
Accessibility statement
A public, up-to-date statement documenting the actual status: what is accessible, what isn't, and whom visitors can report barriers to.
Accessible processes
Not just the homepage: the entire journey from product to contract has to work accessibly, meaning cart, forms, payment and confirmation.
Evidence for market surveillance
National market surveillance authorities can demand evidence, order measures and impose fines. If you audit and fix with documentation, you're prepared.
Six misconceptions that can get expensive
The most common misjudgments around the Accessibility Act, and what's true instead.
- 1
“That only affects public authorities”
Wrong since June 28, 2025. The obligation for public bodies has existed for years. The EAA extends it to the private sector: online shops, banks, telecommunications, e-books, ticket services. If you offer consumers digital services, assume you're in.
- 2
“I'm small, this doesn't affect me”
The microenterprise exemption only applies if both thresholds are met: fewer than 10 employees and at most €2M annual turnover. And it only applies to services, not products. A shop with 12 employees is in, a shop with €3M turnover too.
- 3
“An accessibility widget makes me compliant”
No, and we say that as the maker of such a widget. Overlays offer visitors comfort features but don't repair broken code. Conformity with EN 301 549 only comes from fixing the source code.
- 4
“B2B is always exempt”
The EAA protects consumers, but the line runs along your actual offering, not your ideal customer. As soon as private individuals can also order or book, it's consumer business. A “we only serve companies” notice alone is not enough.
- 5
“Checking once is enough”
Websites change with every release, and so does the conformity status. If you check once and never again, you're only documenting a historical state. Regular checks (and an up-to-date statement) are part of the mandatory program.
- 6
“I'll wait until someone complains”
Risky strategy: violations are measurable from the outside, competitors and associations can take action, market surveillance can order measures up to prohibition, and fines reach six figures depending on the country. Starting early is cheaper than reacting late.
How the Accessibility Act check works
Other checks ask three questions and then sell you a consulting call. Ours actually audits your website.
- 1
Seven questions
Industry, customer base, online transactions, size and turnover. This produces your non-binding applicability assessment with reasoning.
- 2
A real website scan
We check up to 10 pages on desktop and smartphone against the automatically testable WCAG 2.2 criteria, no questionnaire theater.
- 3
A risk picture instead of panic
Assessment plus technical status add up to an honest overall picture: score, violations and what's actually urgent.
- 4
Action plan
Three concrete next steps: fix violations, publish your statement, stay on top of it automatically. With the report by email.
Important legal notice
This check provides a non-binding initial assessment based on your answers and an automated audit. It does not constitute legal advice and doesn't replace it. Automated audits detect a relevant share of the WCAG criteria, but not all of them. A complete evaluation additionally requires a manual review.
Whether and how the European Accessibility Act and its national implementation apply to your offering in the individual case, especially with borderline cases, the microenterprise exemption and transition periods, can only be determined bindingly by a legal review.
accessibility-check.ai assumes no liability for the completeness, correctness or legal validity of the assessment or for damages arising from its use.
Frequently asked questions about the Accessibility Act
What is the European Accessibility Act?
The European Accessibility Act (EAA, Directive (EU) 2019/882) obliges companies to offer certain products and services accessibly to consumers, including websites and apps in e-commerce. It has applied since June 28, 2025, through the national law of each EU member state, for example the BFSG in Germany.
Which websites are affected by the EAA?
Websites through which consumers use services or conclude contracts, above all online shops, banking portals, telecommunications services, e-book offerings and booking and ticketing platforms. What matters is e-commerce with consumers, not the industry alone.
Does the EAA also apply to B2B websites?
Pure B2B offerings are usually not directly covered, because the EAA protects consumers. But be careful: what matters is who can actually order or book, not who you'd like as a customer. If private individuals can also conclude contracts, it's consumer business.
Am I exempt as a microenterprise?
Services provided by microenterprises (fewer than 10 employees and at most €2M annual turnover, both conditions at the same time) are exempt. The exemption doesn't apply to products. Whether it applies in your case should be clarified by a lawyer.
What does my website concretely have to fulfill?
Technical conformity with EN 301 549, which for the web includes WCAG 2.1 level AA: sufficient contrast, alternative text, keyboard operability, understandable forms, clean structure. Plus a public accessibility statement and an accessible path all the way to the contract.
What are the penalties for EAA violations?
Market surveillance authorities can demand evidence, order corrections and in serious cases prohibit the service. Fines are set nationally and are substantial: up to €100,000 in Germany, up to 5% of annual turnover in Italy. On top comes the civil-law risk from competitors and associations.
Are there transition periods?
For certain existing services and contracts the law provides transition rules reaching until 2030 at the latest. They are narrowly framed though, no general amnesty. New offerings have had to be accessible since June 28, 2025. Don't rely on a transition period without having it legally reviewed.
Is an accessibility widget or overlay enough?
No. A widget can offer visitors comfort features like contrast and font adjustments, but it doesn't repair broken code and doesn't make a website compliant, no matter what some vendors promise. Compliance comes from fixing the code.
What's the relationship between the EAA and national laws like the BFSG?
The European Accessibility Act is the EU directive, and each member state transposes it into national law, in Germany as the BFSG, in Spain as Ley 11/2023, in Italy via legislative decree 82/2022. All share the same goal and the same technical basis (EN 301 549). If you sell across Europe, the national implementations of your target markets apply.
Is this check legal advice?
No. The check delivers a non-binding initial assessment based on your answers plus an automated technical audit of your website. It doesn't replace advice from a lawyer. Especially with borderline cases, exemptions and transition periods you should have the assessment legally reviewed.
Seven questions, one scan, and you know where you stand
Free, no obligation, with a real audit result instead of a sales call.
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