European Accessibility Act (EAA) – a comprehensive guide for businesses

The European Accessibility Act (EAA) is a groundbreaking European Union directive that aims to ensure that people with disabilities have full access to products, services and public spaces. By introducing uniform accessibility rules in Member States, the EAA removes technological and social barriers, enabling people with disabilities to participate actively in social and economic life.

Why is the EAA important for entrepreneurs?

On 26 April 2024, the Sejm passed a law on ensuring that certain products and services meet accessibility requirements by economic operators, which transposed the European Accessibility Act into Polish law.

The provisions of the Act will enter into force on 28 June 2025, and from that date, entrepreneurs should market products that meet accessibility requirements and offer accessible services in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

This is not only a legal obligation, but also a great opportunity for growth and improvement of your company’s image. Compliance with accessibility standards can increase your competitiveness in the market and expand your customer base to include people with disabilities who may have had limited access to your products and services in the past.

The main objectives of the EAA and the Act on ensuring that certain products and services meet accessibility requirements by economic operators:

1. Elimination of barriers – facilitating access to products and services for people with various types of disabilities.
2. Empowering consumers – ensuring equal opportunities for everyone to use services and products.
3. Harmonisation of standards – introducing uniform accessibility regulations across the European Union, eliminating the need to adapt to local regulations.

Who is affected by the EAA?

The Act on ensuring the accessibility of certain products and services by economic operators (and the EEA) applies to a wide range of businesses:

• Manufacturers – must ensure that their products meet accessibility standards.
• Importers – responsible for verifying the compliance of products from outside the EU.
• Distributors – should check that the products they offer meet accessibility standards.
• Authorised representatives – (Authorised representatives are entities acting on behalf of a manufacturer within the EU. On the basis of a power of attorney, they are required to at least: a) keep EU declarations of conformity and technical documentation for 5 years; b) provide the supervisory authorities with the required information and documents; c) cooperate with the authorities to remedy non-compliance of products).
• Service providers – companies providing services must adapt them to accessibility requirements.

As can be seen, the new regulations apply to almost all companies. Although micro-enterprises (fewer than 10 employees and an annual turnover of less than EUR 2 million) are partially exempt from the obligations, this is not always the case – they are subject to them, for example, if they use ready-made e-commerce systems.

What products and services does the EAA cover?

The Directive and, consequently, the Polish Act cover:

• Products:
• Computer equipment, operating systems, terminal equipment for telecommunications services
• Payment terminals, ATMs, self-service machines
• E-book readers
• Services:
• Telecommunications, banking, transport (road, rail, air)
• E-commerce
• Consumer end-use devices with interactive computing capabilities used to offer or provide services: a) telecommunications, b) access to audiovisual media services

Importantly, products that meet the accessibility requirements set out in Articles 7–11 are used to offer or provide services. This means that the requirements also apply to, for example, company websites. -(Websites)

Exceptions to which the requirements do not apply include, among others

1) services offered or provided by micro-enterprises;

2) websites and mobile applications in the field of:

1. a) maps and interactive maps, including geoportals, where these maps, interactive maps, including geoportals, contact details and geographical location are presented in a digitally accessible manner, as referred to in the provisions of the Act of 4 April 2019 on the digital accessibility of websites and mobile applications of public entities (Journal of Laws of 2023, item 1440),
2. b) content that is not financed or created by a given economic operator and is not under its control;

Important!

Directive on the accessibility of products and services, the so-called European Accessibility Act (EAA)

Directive (EU) 2019/882 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on the accessibility requirements for products and services (hereinafter: European Accessibility Act) was transposed into EU law in 2019. The European Accessibility Act requires Member States to implement measures to ensure greater accessibility, including:

• transport services (e.g. ticket booking);
• payment services;
• e-books and devices for reading them;
• self-service devices (e.g. ATMs).

The European Accessibility Act requires certain types of economic operators to ensure the accessibility of selected goods and services (unlike the 2016 Directive on digital accessibility, which only applies to public sector bodies). It is currently being implemented by Member States.

Source: https://www.gov.pl/web/dostepnosc-cyfrowa/jakie-akty-prawne-dotycza-dostepnosci-cyfrowej

European Accessibility Act (EAA) – key requirements for businesses

The European Accessibility Act (EAA) introduces a number of requirements for businesses aimed at ensuring that digital products and services are fully accessible to people with disabilities. The key standard is compliance with WCAG 2.1 guidelines at AA level, but the requirements also cover other functional and organisational aspects that must be met by companies. Below are the most important ones:

1. Accessibility of websites and mobile applications

Websites and mobile applications must comply with WCAG 2.1 at AA level, which means, among other things:

• Ensuring adequate contrast between text and background so that content is easy to read for people with visual impairments.
• The ability to use the website using only a keyboard (without the need for a mouse), which is crucial for people with limited manual dexterity.
• Adapting content to assistive technologies (e.g. screen readers) to ensure full access to content for blind and visually impaired people.
• Responsiveness – websites and applications must display and function correctly on different devices (computers, smartphones, tablets).
• Clearly marked buttons, links and forms – they must be easy to identify and perform their functions in an unambiguous manner.
• Intuitive, consistent navigation and clear page layout

1. Digital content and materials

• Alternative descriptions (alt text) for every image, graphic and non-text element so that blind people can understand the content of these elements using assistive technologies.
• Subtitles and audio description for videos and other multimedia so that deaf and visually impaired people can fully enjoy these materials.
• Forms and purchasing processes
• Forms must be designed in an intuitive, understandable and fillable manner for people with different types of disabilities.
• Error messages in forms should be unambiguous and understandable, indicating to the user what needs to be corrected.
• The entire purchasing process should be accessible and possible to complete without the assistance of third parties – this means that users with disabilities should be able to go through the purchasing process independently.

1. Customer communication channels

• Contact channels such as chat, forms and helplines should be available to all users, including deaf people, who should be able to use text-based forms of communication and alternatives, particularly in terms of offers and methods of service provision (e.g. text-based chat).

1. Support for assistive technologies

• Websites and apps should be fully compatible with assistive technologies, such as screen readers, text enlargement software, text-to-speech tools, etc.

1. Regular auditing and monitoring

• Businesses are required to assess the compliance of their services/products with accessibility requirements.
• They should identify potential accessibility barriers and implement necessary improvements on an ongoing basis to maintain compliance with regulations.

In addition

The service provider is required to:

1) in the terms and conditions of service or other equivalent document, make publicly available in writing, in paper or electronic form, and in a manner accessible to persons with special needs as defined in Article 12(2), the following information:

1. a) the service offered and provided,
2. b) information necessary to use the service,
3. c) how the service meets accessibility requirements;

The full scope of the obligations of the manufacturer, distributor, importer and service provider can be found in Chapter III https://dziennikustaw.gov.pl/D2024000073101.pdf As an LBKP, we naturally help to identify and implement all requirements.

How to prepare your company for EAA implementation?

1. Conduct an accessibility audit

Identify areas for improvement, such as missing alternative descriptions or contrast issues.

2. Engage specialists

Work with accessibility experts, developers, and UX/UI designers. If you have any legal doubts about what obligations you need to fulfil, please contact us.

3. Conduct user testing

Test your solutions with people with different types of disabilities to ensure that they are truly accessible.

4. Organise training for your team

Train all employees responsible for content creation, customer service and product development.

5. Develop a long-term plan

Create a schedule for regular audits and update procedures.

Consequences of non-compliance:

Failure to comply with the EAA and the Act may result in serious penalties:

• Financial penalties – up to ten times the average monthly salary in the national economy for the previous year, as announced by the President of the Central Statistical Office in the Official Journal of the Republic of Poland ‘Monitor Polski’ on the basis of the provisions on pensions and disability pensions from the Social Insurance Fund, but not exceeding 10% of the turnover achieved in the financial year preceding the year in which the penalty was imposed, determined as at the date of the decision referred to in Article 56(1) or Article 65(1).
• Obligation to adapt a product or service – if a company does not respond to a customer complaint within 30 days, it will have to make the requested changes within 6 months.
• Possibility of withdrawing a product from the market
• Supervisory checks (Article 40 of the Act)

Summary

The European Accessibility Act is not only a legal requirement, but also an opportunity for your business to grow. Compliance with the EAA brings benefits both in terms of business development and improving your image on the market. Preparing for the EAA requires identifying areas for improvement, implementing appropriate procedures and continuously improving accessibility.

Do you need support with implementing accessibility?

Contact us.