{"id":6525,"date":"2025-04-17T14:04:29","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T14:04:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/compliance\/?p=6525"},"modified":"2025-04-17T14:04:29","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T14:04:29","slug":"the-european-accessibility-act-is-looming-as-corporations-race-to-comply","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/compliance\/?p=6525","title":{"rendered":"The European Accessibility Act is Looming as Corporations Race to Comply"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zoe Smith<\/em><\/p>\n

Associate Editor<\/em><\/p>\n

Loyola University Chicago School of Law, JD 2026<\/em><\/p>\n

The European Accessibility Act<\/a> (the Act\/EAA) aims to increase market opportunities for accessible products and services on both the consumer and business level. Accessibility is an essential factor in making buying decisions in today\u2019s world; showing that companies are committed to diversity and inclusion<\/a> in a time where it is increasingly important. The Act covers a wide variety of products and services<\/a> that are important for those with disabilities and that may not be accessible across the European Union (EU). Such products and services include<\/a>: computers or operating systems, smartphones, audio-visual media services, banking services, etc. Although the European Accessibility Act is advertised as a manageable compliance requirement, inconsistent enforcement across EU member states, vague exemptions, and widespread corporate unpreparedness suggest that it will be a significant regulatory challenge.<\/p>\n

Risks posed to corporations located outside the EU<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Act is set to take effect in June 2025, and will have an impact<\/a> not only on European companies, but companies worldwide. If a company sells products or software to customers\/businesses in Europe<\/a>, the regulation will extend to them. Further, the Act extends into the private sector<\/a>, affecting all businesses. Thus, if a company or business engages with the European market in any capacity<\/a>, it must ensure that its offerings are accessible and comply with the Act. However, even in Europe, only 25% of businesses<\/a> say they are fully prepared to comply with the Act\u2019s provisions. A fifth<\/a> of European companies are not aware of the Act\u2019s requirements at all. The consequences of non-compliance<\/a> can be severe, ranging from penalties and fines to inability to operate in the EU market. In some instances, non-compliance may even be considered a criminal offense<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Many companies that are going to be subject to the Act state that accessibility is a top priority<\/a> for their business; the struggle then is exactly what the companies must do in order to comply. The EAA establishes basic standards<\/a> for accessibility, but member states can interpret and enforce the requirements differently, leading to potential regulatory fragmentation. Some countries, such as Italy, are already requiring compliance<\/a> by their businesses ahead of the June deadline.<\/p>\n

How companies can comply with the Act<\/strong><\/p>\n

For companies\u2019 websites to generally comply under the EAA, there are four key principles<\/a> they should focus on: (1) perceivable content, (2) operable design, (3) understandable structure, and (4) robust compatibility. However, for companies to fully comply they should understand how each EU member country interprets the EAA<\/a>. Some countries are choosing to implement the Act<\/a> in their already-existing accessibility framework laws while other countries will be generally adopting the EAA and choosing their consequences for violating. The EAA directive does state, however, that penalties should be effective and proportionate<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There are some exceptions<\/a> to EAA compliance\u2026 the Act does not apply to: businesses with fewer than ten employees, businesses with a balance sheet total under 2 million euros, and businesses where the cost of compliance is disproportionate to the benefits of accessibility. Furthermore, if a business can demonstrate that compliance is not reasonably possible<\/a>, they may be exempt; though there is no clear standard as to how to determine if compliance is reasonable possible within the Act.<\/p>\n

Companies should create a roadmap<\/a> for implementing the new compliance regulations under the EAA, and their goals should be realistic. They should understand how the requirements apply to their business and phase in a plan for compliance<\/a>. Companies will likely find that being accessible has benefits that go beyond that of regulatory compliance, such as market expansion and innovation. Many other countries<\/a> outside the European Union, such as Canada and the UK, already have accessibility laws that may provide some guidance for companies that are still unsure what to prepare for.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n

Consumers today \u201cexpect and demand<\/a>\u201d accessibility, and companies that prepare for EAA compliance are also preparing for similar requirements that are likely to become prevalent in other markets as well. The good news is that EAA compliance should be relatively \u201ceasy\u201d<\/a> for businesses; it does not need to be costly or complex, but simply requires an understanding of issues that may make a website or product difficult to use by people with disabilities. However, such an understanding may not be so straightforward; the ambiguity in national implementation and exemptions leave many companies floundering to understand the act. Those companies that do struggle with compliance may want to consider hiring an accessibility expert<\/a>. In the coming months, the true \u201cease\u201d of compliance with the act will be shown as companies race to comply by June.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The European Accessibility Act (the Act\/EAA) aims to increase market opportunities for accessible products and services on both the consumer and business level. Accessibility is an essential factor in making buying decisions in today\u2019s world; showing that companies are committed to diversity and inclusion in a time where it is increasingly important. The Act covers a wide variety of products and services that are important for those with disabilities and that may not be accessible across the European Union (EU). Such products and services include: computers or operating systems, smartphones, audio-visual media services, banking services, etc. Although the European Accessibility Act is advertised as a manageable compliance requirement, inconsistent enforcement across EU member states, vague exemptions, and widespread corporate unpreparedness suggest that it will be a significant regulatory challenge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":155,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,1],"tags":[2389,124,2390],"class_list":["post-6525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-international-affairs","category-uncategorized","tag-accessibility","tag-ada","tag-eaa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/compliance\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/compliance\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/compliance\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/compliance\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/155"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/compliance\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6525"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/compliance\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6526,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/compliance\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6525\/revisions\/6526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/compliance\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/compliance\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/compliance\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}