28 June 2025: new EU accessibility requirement will make the web, bank branches and ticket machines accessible to all
Already in 2019, the European Parliament and the Council approved Directive 2019/882, known as the European Accessibility Act. The aim of the document is to remove barriers around digital services and consumer electronics and harmonise rules across the Union. The deadline for implementation is 28 June 2025, just over a month away.
Who has to comply
The Directive explicitly lists categories of products and services. Products include consumer computer hardware with operating systems, payment and ticket machines, information and check-in kiosks, ATMs, e-readers and consumer communication and audiovisual equipment. On the services side, the focus will be on electronic communications (including 112 emergency calls), streaming platforms with electronic schedulers, air and rail ticketing and information channels, consumer banking, e-books and all forms of e-commerce.
What needs to change in products and services
Annex I requires that information must be accessible through multiple senses, the user interface must work with a keyboard and screen reader and must not rely solely on colour or sound, i.e. the idea of the Directive is that the user interface must be usable without a mouse/touch screen (i.e. using only a keyboard or keypad) and understandable to a screen reader. Also, important information must not be conveyed only by colour (e.g. “the error message is just a red frame”) or only by sound (e.g. “just a beep if the operation failed”); there must always be a textual or tactile alternative that can be perceived by a visually or hearing impaired user.
Web and mobile apps must be perceivable, usable, understandable and reliable. Communication services must provide real-time text and, where appropriate, synchronous text, audio and video, while streaming platforms must provide subtitles, sign language and audio description without degradation or delay. Passenger transport services must ensure that tickets, real-time information and terminals are accessible to all passengers, i.e. the aim is that a passenger with visual, hearing or mobility impairments can buy a ticket, view information and use a terminal without assistance – as easily as other passengers.
Banking and shopping platforms must be fully usable even when the user cannot use a mouse or sound, meaning that every action from logging in to confirming a payment must be done using the keyboard alone and in a form that is understandable to the screen reader, without the user having to hear sound cues or click on buttons with a mouse.
Deadlines and exceptions
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June 2022: Member States had to transpose the Directive into national law (Article 31(1)).
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June 2025: requirements become mandatory for all products and services entering new markets (Article 31(2)).
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30 June 2030: existing equipment may be used for the provision of the service until that date, unless it is replaced earlier (Article 32(1)).
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There is a relaxation for small service providers: if the company employs fewer than ten people and has an annual turnover of less than €2 million, the service requirements do not apply, but there is no exemption for products. In addition, a company may opt out of some specific requirements if certain conditions are met, where this would lead to a fundamental change or disproportionate burden. Such a decision must be documented and justified to the national supervisory authority.
Monitoring
Manufacturers will have to affix the CE marking and a declaration of compliance. Service providers must publish in the general conditions a description of how they ensure accessibility. Member States will have to set up a monitoring system and impose fines that are “effective, proportionate and dissuasive”.
What the user notices every day
Web pages will become more readable, ticket machines will provide instructions in text and audio, video services will have subtitles by default, and the bank account can be accessed from the keyboard or with voice commands. The European Accessibility Act is not just a formal commitment, but will lead to a more convenient, clearer and inclusive digital environment.
Source : https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32019L0882
