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Since 28 June 2025 the European Accessibility Act (Directive (EU) 2019/882) has been mandatory law. Does your website comply?

The law is already here. The question is whether your site is ready.

Web shops and digital services aimed at consumers in the EU must be digitally accessible — tested against EN 301 549 / WCAG 2.1 level AA. Below we explain exactly what that means, who it applies to, and what it can cost if you wait.

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What the law requires exactly

The European Accessibility Act harmonises the accessibility requirements for digital products and services across the EU. For websites and web shops it concretely means: comply with EN 301 549, the European standard that in turn uses WCAG 2.1 level AA as its bar. Think of sufficient colour contrast, keyboard operability, alt text on images, linkable form fields and a logical page structure.

Under Article 30 of the Directive, member states must enforce with penalties that are “effective, proportionate and dissuasive”. In other words: the fines are deliberately meant to hurt.

The four pillars: the POUR principles

WCAG — the standard under the law — rests on four principles, together known as POUR. Together they ensure your site is usable for the roughly 1 in 4 adults in the EU (over 80 million people) living with a disability.

Perceivable

Information and controls must be perceivable: sufficient colour contrast, alt text on images, and captions on video.

Operable

Everything must be operable with the keyboard — no mouse required — without getting stuck in a menu or pop-up.

Understandable

Content and controls are logical: clear error messages at checkout and clear labels on input fields.

Robust

The code is robust enough to be read reliably by assistive technology such as screen readers — now and in the future.

Does this apply to you?

Do you sell products or services online to consumers in the EU? Then you almost certainly fall under the law — whether you're a sole trader or a large company.

There is one exception: micro-enterprises providing a service — fewer than 10 employees and less than €2 million annual turnover or balance sheet total — are exempt from part of the obligations. But beware: if you grow past that threshold, the exemption lapses. And if you also sell outside the EU, micro status offers you no protection there — the US ADA, for example, has no threshold at all and small web shops are sued over it all the time. Besides: a visitor who can't use your site won't check out anyway.

Which accessibility law applies to you?

The law follows your market, not where you're based. Select the countries you sell to — you'll instantly see which laws apply to you, legally and commercially.

Select the markets you sell to

These laws then apply to you — including from abroad:

One Seviranta subscription covers them all — they all rest on WCAG. One scan, one dossier, proof for every market.

United States

The US is the most litigated accessibility market in the world: roughly 8,800 federal Title III cases per year, plus California Unruh claims of $4,000 per violation.

Law
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title III · Section 508 · Unruh Civil Rights Act (California)
In force
ADA since 1990; Unruh since 1959; DOJ web rule (public sector) compliance 2027/2028.
Standard
WCAG (de facto) — Section 508 verwijst naar WCAG 2.0 AA
Enforcement
ADA Title III has no threshold and no federal fine, but high-volume private lawsuits + attorney's fees. In 2025 the FTC fined an overlay vendor $1 million for deceptive compliance claims.
Penalties / risk

Sources: ADA.gov — 2024 web rule · FTC — $1M order tegen overlay-aanbieder (2025)

This is information and tooling, not legal advice.

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Or read the full explainer per country:

What you can do now

The good news: this is solvable, and often faster than you think. In three steps:

  1. Test against WCAG 2.1 AA

    The standard the law refers to (via EN 301 549). An automated scan finds the bulk of the violations in minutes.

  2. Fix the real code

    Not an overlay widget pasted on top, but the cause in your own page — that's what survives an audit.

  3. Keep testing

    Your site changes continuously and the standard moves with it. Continuous monitoring keeps your site in order, not just today.

Seviranta translates this legislation into concrete tools and clear information to get your site demonstrably in order.