You probably found out about this in a forwarded email from a lawyer, a payment processor, or an anxious cofounder. The subject line mentioned fines, the body mentioned a deadline that already passed, and the attached PDF was the kind of EU directive summary that uses the phrase "economic operators" thirty-six times. You closed the tab and opened this one.
Here is the short version in English. The European Accessibility Act is an EU directive that took effect on June 28, 2025. It covers a specific list of products and services sold into the EU, not just websites — e-commerce is on the list, but so are banking services, e-books, ticketing machines, consumer banking terminals, and more. If you sell goods or services to consumers in any EU member state, you are probably in scope. There is a microenterprise exemption, but it is strict: fewer than 10 employees AND under roughly 2 million euro in annual turnover, on the services side specifically. Most people who think they qualify actually don't, because the two conditions are joint, not either/or.
Enforcement varies by member state. Germany, Ireland, and France were out of the gate fastest. Fines range roughly from 5,000 to 100,000 euro depending on jurisdiction, with several countries publishing higher ceilings for repeat or willful violations. The scarier cost, honestly, is not the fine. It is business exclusion: a non-compliant service can be ordered to stop selling into a given market, which is a much more expensive problem than a one-time penalty.
Our Quick Check at $49 includes a five-minute applicability review as part of the report, because the single most common thing we hear is "I don't even know if this applies to me." We'll tell you. If it doesn't apply, the report says so and you stop worrying. If it does, the same report starts you on the actual remediation.
What you actually get
The EAA conformance criteria lean on EN 301 549, which in turn references WCAG 2.1 Level AA for the digital accessibility pieces. That's the standard we test against, the same one that underpins most ADA litigation in the US. One audit, one report, usable on either side of the Atlantic.
Quick Check ($49) covers applicability plus top-level WCAG findings on your homepage and three critical pages. Small Site Audit ($499) is the one that produces the document you'd hand to a procurement team or a regulator if asked — full axe-core sweep, manual screen reader walkthrough, written report, 72-hour turnaround.
Questions EAA clients ask us
Does EAA actually apply to my business?
If you sell in-scope goods or services to consumers in the EU, most likely yes. The in-scope list is specific and includes consumer e-commerce, e-books, banking services, ticketing, and more. The microenterprise exemption applies only if you have fewer than 10 employees AND under about 2 million euro in turnover, and only to the services portion. If you're a US company selling physical products to EU consumers via a storefront, you are probably in scope — the directive follows the product, not your flag.
What are the fines, actually?
Fines vary by member state because each country implemented its own penalty regime. Figures published across jurisdictions range roughly 5,000 to 100,000 euro per violation, sometimes higher for repeat offenders. Germany's Barrierefreiheitsstaerkungsgesetz, for example, sets specific ceilings; Ireland and France have their own. The operational risk — being ordered to stop selling into a market — is usually the larger number on a spreadsheet than the fine itself.
Can you help me figure out whether I'm subject?
Yes. The Quick Check report opens with a short applicability review: we look at what you sell, where, to whom, and through what channels. It is not legal advice and we will tell you that in writing, but for most small operators the answer is clear enough that a formal legal opinion would just confirm it.
What about the UK? Post-Brexit, does EAA apply there?
No. The UK is outside the EAA. The UK has its own Equality Act 2010, which is broadly similar in spirit and also leans on WCAG 2.1 AA for most practical purposes. If you're only selling into the UK market, EAA isn't your concern, but the underlying accessibility work overlaps almost entirely. Same audit, different regulatory paperwork.
Is this the same as ADA compliance?
Related but separate. The ADA is US law and is enforced primarily through private litigation. EAA is an EU directive enforced by member state regulators. Both lean heavily on WCAG 2.1 AA as the practical technical standard, which is why one real accessibility audit gives you useful evidence against either. The paperwork is different; the underlying fixes are almost identical.
More reading before you commit
Our 2026 EAA compliance checklist is the long-form version of what we test against, with the directive citations spelled out. It's free, and if you read it you'll have a pretty clear sense of whether you need an external audit or whether you can self-remediate the obvious stuff first.
Start an audit
Most EAA clients start with Quick Check ($49) for the applicability review, then graduate to Small Site Audit ($499) once they know they're in scope. No sales call unless you want one.
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