Digital Products And Services For All? The Scope, First Days, And Big Questions Around The European Accessibility Act

The European Accessibility Act (EAA) (Directive (EU) 2019/882) made headlines recently for entering into practical application on the 28^th June 2025, and thereby setting common accessibility requirements across the European Union for selected digital products and services. While the EEA has been in the works for a while now, what is of more interest is its current scope, the feedback from the first months of implementation and of course, its relationship to the overall goals of the European Union.

Conception

Currently, around 87 million people in the EU have some form of disability – a bit over 1 out of 5. With about 20% of the Union's population being part of these groups, it is perhaps no surprise that the European Accessibility Act has taken place. And yet, it was not a smooth ride.

Accessibility obligations in the EU were not widespread nor unified at the beginning of the millennium. The basis which initiated stronger legal and political measures was none other than the very Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (the 'Charter'). Article 21 on 'Non Discrimination' and Article 26 of the Charter on 'Integration of persons with disabilities' were loud on the importance the EU is placing on persons with disabilities and their participation in the community, and they paved the way for the incoming changes.

Still, it was not until the early 2010s that accessibility was identified as a key priority through the European Disability Strategy 2010-2020, that solid steps were beginning to be taken on an EU level. During that period, the conception of the EAA also took place, with the European Commission announcing their plans to introduce a common set of accessibility requirements across the EU to improve the functioning of the internal market while ensuring disability rights, and formalizing the proposal for the EAA in December 2015, which was subsequently adopted by the European Parliament and the Council in April 2019. The relevant laws, regulations and administrative provisions were to be adopted and published by all Member States until the 28^th of June 2022, and three years later, implementation took place at the mentioned 28^th June 2025.

For Cyprus, the Act has been transpositioned into national law under The Accessibility of Products and Services Law of 2024 - L. 57(I)/2024 (the 'Law').

The EAA itself

So, what are we looking at exactly?

In essence, from the 28^th of June 2025, new products and services relating to daily digital social functioning offered in the EU must be launched conformant with the Act, with the obligation being imposed to private sector organisations selling products or services to customers living in EU member states. Existing products and services must be updated to comply by the 28^th of June 2030.

These products and services include:

• computers and operating systems
• ATMs, ticketing and check-in machines
• smartphones
• TV equipment related to digital television services
• telephony services and related equipment
• access to audio-visual media services such as television broadcast and related consumer equipment
• services related to air, bus, rail and waterborne passenger transport
• banking services
• e-books
• e-commerce

Any businesses that trades in the EU, employing at least 10 persons with an annual turnover above €2 million, is most likely required to abide by the directive, whether they are:

1. a service provider – any natural or legal person providing a service on the Union market or making offers to provide such a service to consumers in the Union
2. a manufacturer – any natural or legal person who manufactures a product or has a product designed or manufactured, and markets that product under its name or trademark;
3. an authorized representative – any natural or legal person established within the Union who has received a written mandate from a manufacturer to act on its behalf in relation to specified tasks;
4. an importer – any natural or legal person established within the Union who places a product from a third country on the Union market ;
5. a distributor – any natural or legal person in the supply chain, other than the manufacturer or the importer, who makes a product available on the market;

The accessibility requirements for the relevant products and services are set out in Annex I of the EEA, and include requirements on the provision of information, the user interface and functionality design and support services.

For example:

• Under Section 1, Paragraph 1(a)(i) of Annex 1 of the EEA, the information on the use of the product provided on the product itself (labelling, instructions and warning) shall be made available via more than one sensory channel and 1(a)(iii) be presented to users in ways they can perceive.
• Under Section 1, Paragraph 2(b) of Annex 1 of the EEA, the product, including its user interface, shall contain features, elements and functions, that allow persons with disabilities to access, perceive, operate, understand and control the product by ensuring that when the product uses speech it shall provide alternatives to speech and vocal input for communication, operation control and orientation; and 2(b)(ii) e-readers shall provide for text-to-speech technology;

After taking note of the above points, Article 14 of the EAA must be considered. The legislators have placed emphasis on the concepts of fundamental alteration and disproportionate burden, since the mentioned accessibility requirements are only applicable in cases where complying with them:

1. does not require a significant change in a product or service that results in the fundamental alteration of its basic nature; and
2. Does not result in the imposition of a disproportionate burden on the legal or natural person.

What happens in non-compliant cases that do fall under the scope of the EAA though?

The obligation to create rules on penalties has been passed on the Members States themselves. Being guided to create 'effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties' which 'shall also be accompanied by effective remedial action in case of non-compliance', the extent of implementation will most likely rely on the severity of penalties of each Member State.

While expecting more leniency, it appears that there are currently severe penalties for non-compliance in Cyprus under Articles 36 and 38 of the Law, the ones being:

1. Administrative fine up to EUR 10,000 for a first offense,
2. Administrative fine of up to EUR 20,000 for additional offense,
3. In case of a continuous offense, administrative fine of up to EUR 500 per day of continued offense,
4. Imprisonment of up to two (2) years and/or administrative fine of up to EUR 20,000 for a first criminal offense;
5. Imprisonment of up to three (3) years and/or administrative fine of up to EUR 30,000

Naturally, all fines are calculated based on the nature, severity and duration of the offense.

Feedback so far, looming questions, and the next day

While the EEA has been in the works for quite a while, it appears that awareness about its effects is at low levels. Back in March it was estimated that near 20% of affected companies were not aware of the Act, with similar numbers saying they weren't prepared at all.

Beyond the unawareness, it appears that there are technical challenges too, as changing existing digital infrastructure remains difficult and source intensive for many businesses, since most are lacking in-house accessibility knowledge required to be compliant with the EEA.

Further, as enforcement of the act is handled independently by each Member State, despite having the same legal basis across the Union, it appears that the severity of the approach defers – especially when considering that various Member States lacked the initiation 28^th June 2022 transposition, and therefore their procedures are likely to move slower.

And that does bring some questions to mind:

• For providers operating across multiple member states, in case of non-compliance, is there a system in place in avoiding extensive penalisations?
• Is there enough available support and expertise to guide businesses through the relevant accessibility requirements for compliance?
• With rapidly evolving technologies, is the EEA catering for the long run or is it a short-term solution?

Since there is an additional deadline in half a decade (28^th June 2030) for existing products and services, there are some key steps that businesses ought to initiate, such as:

• Conducting accessibility audits, aligned with the EAA
• Training and upskilling their teams for sustainable accessibility practices
• Cooperating with experienced accessibility organisations that can offer an end-to-end approach to EEA compliance.

Is the EAA aligned with the economic goals of the EU?

It appears that we are once again finding ourselves in a, nowadays, very 'European' standstill, in between some key priorities of the Union – promotion of the very principles we are standing behind, and a desire for economic growth and expansion.

The EU has been actively positioning itself as a globally competitive market – seeking to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and innovative businesses by emphasizing the potential efficiency, digitalization and cross-border harmonization, and by increasingly providing additional benefits– perhaps a necessity in order to keep up with the ever-growing economies of the United States and China. Unfortunately, despite posting an undeniable societal good, the EEA does add another layer of regulatory obligations for companies.

Does Article 14 of the EAA guarantee that most companies won't truly be affected? Perhaps. Perhaps though the EAA might act as a potential deterrent for companies that were leaning on the edge of an EU migration of their business.

It is a fine line to walk. If the requirements are considered and implemented with enough flexibility and meaningful support for affected entities, a balance may be reached, allowing the EAA to drive forward innovation while promoting the key ethical considerations the EU was built upon. However, if it becomes – and most importantly, is perceived – as another regulatory requirement, it will simply be seen as an additional hurdle posed in front of the entrepreneurial momentum, with potential of undermining Europe's attractiveness for investors and businesses.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.