So, you screwed up your EAA compliance. What now?
First, read this article.
The deadline of the European Accessibility Act (EAA) is near (June 28 is just 20 days away as I write this), and you just realized that your website or apps will not meet the requirements by then. Maybe you have just heard of it for the first time, or you might have tried to meet the requirements, but you’re not there yet.
If you have believed that there is an additional transition period, that is not true. The transition period basically started when the EAA got approved by the European Parliament in April 2019. All EU countries were then required to ensure that the directive is implemented in their laws by June 28, 2022, to be in effect from June 28, 2025.
(Note: Because I have little insight into products covered by the EAA, I will focus on the services, which is the EAA language for websites, online shops, and applications.)
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I'm a web accessibility professional who cares deeply about inclusion and an open web for everyone. I work with Axess Lab as an accessibility specialist. Previously, I worked with Knowbility, the World Wide Web Consortium, and Aktion Mensch. In this blog I publish my own thoughts and research about the web industry.
Who needs to fulfill the EAA requirements?
You are under the EAA legislation for services when your audience is in the EU1 and is customers (instead of businesses). In addition, you are exempt if you are a “microenterprise”, meaning “an enterprise which employs fewer than 10 persons and which has an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 2 million or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding EUR 2 million”.
If you are a microenterprise, try to make your content more accessible anyway. Larger firms will have an advantage over you eventually, as accessible services are often preferred by customers, due to better usability and customization options.
Don’t panic
If you have not met the requirements and are required to do so, you have opened up yourself for potential punishment by the marketing surveillance agencies in the different EU countries you have customers in. There is no way around it: this is serious.
While the fines can be very high (for example, up to EUR 100.000 in Germany), the regulation allows for fixes before a company is sanctioned. This is especially important for first-time violators. The EAA also encourages agencies to support SMEs (“small and medium enterprises” up to EUR 50 million annual turnover) to meet the requirements and not overburden them.
Get support
Unless you have worked on accessibility for a long time, and you know what you are doing, it is highly unlikely that you have the knowledge in-house. To be honest, if you are reading this, you certainly don’t have the knowledge in-house.
This is OK. Before you contact someone and sign a potentially expensive contract, here are some fundamental facts about accessibility you need to understand to make a good decision:
- Accessibility is a process. It’s not a one-time fix or something you can only think about after you have deployed a new feature.
- There are no shortcuts. An accessibility widget or a one-line JavaScript will not make this go away.
- Experience over certification. Many new accessibility professionals have a certificate by the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP), but understand that these certifications cover fairly fundamental knowledge. In case you’re unsure, ask any professional, certificate or not, what their experience is, especially with projects similar to yours. Understand that Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) might often prevent them from naming specific clients.
The basis of compliance is the EN 301 549 European norm, which includes the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA. While it is currently not required, looking at WCAG 2.2 AA makes sense to avoid another round of accessibility fixes later. It expands WCAG 2.1 a little, and most sites should meet the new success criteria.
Many accessibility companies will start with an assessment of your service and how well it meets the requirements outlined in EN 301 549. That’s a good start, but without organizational commitment and internal processes, you risk getting into a “develop inaccessible functionality → test → fix functionality” treadmill. We see in many clients that they are fixing some existing functionality while expanding their services with inaccessible functionality at the same time.
You need to avoid this vicious cycle to make your case that you take accessibility serious.
What to do
You have to prove that you are willing to make your service as accessible as possible as quickly as possible. That might help to avoid or reduce fines.
- Commit to releasing only features that are reviewed and tested for accessibility. This will ensure that you do not build up more accessibility debt.
- Fix existing accessibility issues. Plan to test functionality in your service for accessibility step by step and resolve issues or rebuild functionality with accessibility in mind.
- Often re-thinking a feature with accessibility in mind and rebuilding it will be quicker and cheaper than patching accessibility gaps.
- Scope well: Concentrate on the main avenues users use on your site or app first. If you provide an online shopping experience, prioritize the purchase flow over blog posts or other functionality.
A good accessibility coach will guide you through this and help you prioritize what is important, and will also support you with an important additional step of the process:
Documentation
The European Accessibility Act comes with some bureaucracy which requires you to provide accessibility information to users. In most countries this seems to be an on-demand feature, however in some European countries, this takes the form of a public page on your website or inside your app, an Accessibility Statement.
I strongly recommend a public accessibility statement for all sites and applications. Make sure it’s written to inform people with disabilities about the accessibility of your service. If your service is largely inaccessible, communicate goals for making parts of the experience accessible and document when you meet these goals continuously.
You are also required to report accessibility issues with the market surveillance agency when you learn about them. One would assume that those agencies have websites, forms, and procedures ready to review those reports, but it looks like some of them will only be up to speed later this year. While that might allow you a little more time to bring your website or app in order, you should document when you report what to the agency. Overall, it’s your responsibility to demonstrate that you try to conform as best as you can.
Slow, but steady
When you make promises, ensure that you can keep them. Promising too much and then delaying will not only make market surveillance agencies uneasy, but users will also stop trusting you. Plan to take small steps, especially in the beginning. You, designers, and developers need to learn the basics of accessibility first before diving in. Making costly mistakes is easy, especially if the interactions that need fixing are complex.
Think about simplifying your user interface. Consider if a complex interaction pattern is worth putting time in when a simpler form is sufficient. Again, professional help can guide you through the process.
Support Eric’s independent work
I'm a web accessibility professional who cares deeply about inclusion and an open web for everyone. I work with Axess Lab as an accessibility specialist. Previously, I worked with Knowbility, the World Wide Web Consortium, and Aktion Mensch. In this blog I publish my own thoughts and research about the web industry.
- and other countries that adapt the same legislation, like Norway ↩
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