Key changes you need to know: EU Accessibility Act, June 28 2025

On June 28, 2025, the EU Accessibility Act came into force across all member states. The idea is simple: if you launch a product or service in the EU from that date onward, it needs to meet clear accessibility standards. Anything already on the market has until June 28, 2030, to catch up. You might say that sounds straightforward. But the details can be tricky.

What the Act Covers

The Act reaches across eight areas. First:

Computers and operating systems - Desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones—must offer full keyboard navigation, work with screen magnifiers, support voice control and other assistive tools. Each device also needs a guide that explains how to turn these features on. I once helped a friend enable a screen reader on her new tablet. Without clear instructions, she would have given up.

Self-service terminals - Like ATMs, ticket machines and check-in kiosks must change as well. They have to include tactile keys, audio instructions, adjustable contrast settings and labels that you can actually read. And there must be a headset jack or an NFC trigger so users can start voice guidance without juggling menus. Imagine arriving at a train station and finding a kiosk that talks you through each step. That’s the goal here.

Audiovisual equipment - Smart TVs, set-top boxes and media players now need captions for live shows and recorded video. Menus and playback controls should describe themselves out loud. A remote control should have embossed symbols or built-in labels so you can press the right button by feel. It’s a small change in design but a big help for someone with low vision.

Electronic communication - broadband portals, VoIP apps, chat tools and video calls, the Act says real-time text alternatives must exist. Relay services need to integrate smoothly. Every button and link in the interface should use semantic code so assistive tech can find it. In plain English, if you can’t see the screen, the code still tells you where to click.

Transport booking Sites - For air, rail, bus or ferry travel also must adapt. Forms should guide you step by step, with clear focus outlines and skip links. If an error pops up—maybe you forgot to pick a date—it needs a spoken message that tells you exactly what’s wrong. No guessing required.

Banking services Web and mobile portals, ATMs and payment terminals must include accessible PIN entry, voice prompts and large-print options. Switching to high contrast or bigger text makes a difference. Receipts should be available as printed large-print tickets or audio files you can download.

E-book readers and dedicated reading apps These have to let you resize fonts, trigger text-to-speech, jump between chapters with skip links and hear menus announced by the screen reader. Picture someone navigating a long document by voice rather than tapping tiny areas on the screen.

E-commerce platforms and online shops - Must provide meaningful alt text for every product image. You have to complete the checkout using only a keyboard if you need to. When your cart updates or a filter resets the page, a screen reader must catch that change. And any error messages need to speak up so shoppers don’t get stuck.

Technical Standards

All these rules refer back to EN 301 549, which matches WCAG 2.1 AA for digital content. You need text alternatives for non-text items, keyboard-only operation throughout, minimum contrast ratios, scalable text and clear error handling. For hardware like kiosks or devices, you add tactile markers, audio cues for status updates and user manuals in accessible formats.

Who Is Responsible

The Act names five groups: manufacturers, authorized representatives, importers, distributors and service providers. If you design, brand, ship or sell a product or service in the EU after June 28, 2025, it’s on you to prove it meets the standards. That means mapping every feature to the relevant clauses, running tests, writing up a declaration of conformity and slapping the CE mark on the product.

And don’t think you can skip it until 2030. Any update to an existing product or a change in the interface counts as a new release. If you push software updates every quarter, you’ll need to run these checks each time. I’ve seen teams scramble because they thought they could delay testing. You can’t.

Enforcement and Penalties

What happens if you miss the deadline? National authorities will investigate complaints, ask to see your technical files and can fine you. We’re talking a few thousand euros up to tens of thousands. And if you ignore it long enough, you could face a recall. But the bigger hit might be reputation damage. A public complaint can spread quickly and stall your sales in multiple markets.

Run an Audit

In practice, a full audit takes around two to four weeks. You start with an automated scan—tools like Axe catch obvious faults. Then you map those results to EN 301 549 and tag each issue by severity. Next, you bring in two or more screen-reader users to try your site or device. You log every barrier, prioritize fixes for missing labels, keyboard traps or contrast failures, update alt text and captions, then run follow-up tests to confirm the fixes. It sounds simple but it does the job.

Step-by-Step Roadmap

What’s your playbook? Begin with an automated scan in your next development sprint, then set up manual inspections of critical user journeys. Link each finding to the specific clause in EN 301 549 and rank issues by user impact. Start knocking out navigation, labeling and contrast problems first. Invite real users early and keep a shared log of everything you test. Draft your declaration of conformity as you go and update it with each release. Make sure customers can report issues easily—aim for a 48-hour response time—and train your team on these basics. Finally, schedule quarterly reviews so it doesn’t slip off your radar.

Wrapping Up

At the end of the day, this Act sets one baseline for 27 countries. It shrinks your legal risk, boosts your reach and makes your products work for more people. It might seem like extra work now, but the payoff is real. Lower support costs. Better customer satisfaction. And the knowledge that you didn’t leave anyone out. Ready to roll up your sleeves? Your users will thank you, and so will your bottom line.